The Red Cross offers tips for preventing house fires before a cold front

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) – The American Red Cross is reminding people to take fire safety seriously ahead of a forecast cold front in the Baton Rouge area.

The WAFB First Alert Weather Team says morning lows and daytime highs will drop 15 to 20 degrees over the next few days.

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According to the Red Cross, heating fires are the second most common cause of house fires. Additionally, space heaters are responsible for more than half of all fire-related deaths.

The following safety tips were issued by the American Red Cross:

• All heaters need space. Keep children, pets and furniture at least six feet away from heaters. Connect space heaters directly to an electrical outlet, never to an extension cord. If you must use a space heater, place it on a flat, hard, nonflammable surface (such as a ceramic tile floor).
• Keep all potential fuel sources such as paper, clothing, bedding or carpets at least six feet away from space heaters, stoves or fireplaces. Portable heaters and fireplaces should never be left unattended. Turn off space heaters and make sure embers in the fireplace are extinguished before going to bed or leaving the house.
• When purchasing a space heater, look for models that automatically shut off if the heater falls over as an additional safety measure.
• Never use a generator, camp stove, or grill indoors. Never use an oven or stove to heat your home. Make sure a fireplace is never left unattended when in use.
• Keep the fire burning in your fireplace by using a glass or metal fire screen large enough to catch sparks and rolling logs. Have wood and coal stoves, fireplaces, chimneys, and ovens professionally inspected and cleaned once a year.

The Red Cross encourages residents to always have a working smoke detector. Officials say smoke alarms cut the chances of dying in a house fire by nearly half.

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