BATON ROUGE - Within the past week, a wave of housefires have occurred in the capital city and local firefighters are urging citizens to follow fire safety suggestions as they try to stay warm.  

Curte Monte of The Baton Rouge Fire Department spoke with WBRZ regarding the situation, saying the department has seen an increase in fire volume due to people’s use of various heating systems to stay warm.

Monte encourages locals to put the following safety suggestions into practice as they try to stay warm during cold weather:

-Keep space heaters 3 feet away from anything that can burn.

-Plug space heaters into the wall, NOT into extension cords.

-Do not put space heaters on wooden tables or elevated surfaces. Instead, keep them on the ground.

-Test all smoke detectors in your home to make sure they and their batteries are in working condition.

-If homeowners have children, they should show their children what their smoke alarms sound like, so children know what it means when they hear the sound.  
Click here for additional fire safety suggestions.