By Paige Nash
Bienville Parish Fire District 4 & 5 have been busy the last couple of days putting out fires caused by home heating elements.
The first fire took place around 4 a.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 17 on Bienville Road in Ringgold. Bienville Parish District 4 & 5 responded along with Fire District 6.
Assistant Fire Chief Brian Lindberg said, “It was a woodframed house. Many people were saying it was about an 80 – 100 year-old home. It was already about 60 percent involved when we arrived on the scene. It took us about 25 minutes to get it under control and then about 3.5 hours to get it extinguished.”
There was one occupant in the home that suffered burns and he was transported to Ochsner Medical Center in Shreveport for treatment.
According to Lindberg, during the initial investigation it was deemed that the cause of the fire was a space heater. Since the fire resulted in an injury, the Louisiana State Fire Marshall’s Office was called and they took over the investigation.
The second fire occurred a little further south along Highway 371 around 2 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 18.
Bienville Fire District 4 & 5 were the only responding agency on this call with 10 -12 apparatus in use and approximately 30 personnel on scene.
“This was also a woodframe home. The fire was caused by a heating unit, like an old wood burning stove. It was luckily contained to the attic,” said Lindberg. “It took us about 15 minutes to get this one under control and about 45 minutes to an hour to get it out completely.”
According to Lindberg, there was a family at home during the time of the fire, but they were all able to get out safely with no injuries.
The National Fire Protection Association encourages homeowners to follow these heating safety tips to prevent fires and heat your home safely.
- Keep anything that can burn at least 3 feet away from heating equipment, like your furnace, fireplace or portable space heater.
- Have a 3-foot designated “Kid Free Zone” around open fires and space heaters.
- Never use your oven to heat your home.
- Plug only 1 heat-producing appliance (such as a space heater or portable radiator) into one electrical outlet at a time.
- Remember to always turn portable heaters off when leaving any room or before going to bed.
- Always use the correct fuel, specified by the manufacturer, for fuel burning space heaters.
- Test your smoke alarms monthly.
- If you smell gas in your home or coming from your gas heater, do not light the appliance. Leave your home immediately and call your local fire department or gas company.
- Never leave candles burning unattended.
