LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) – Police are still investigating two deadly fires in New York and Philadelphia that took the lives of nearly 30 people last week.
6 News is here for you with what you can do to prevent this from happening in your home.
In 2021,107 Michiganders lost their lives in a fire, according to the Michigan Fire Inspectors Society.
“It’s something that we need to be concerned with in our own homes and our own families and their steps that we can take to be able to prevent fires from occurring,” said Michael McLeieer, Fire Safety Instructor and President of E.S.C.A.P.E
He says fires happen more often in the winter
“We’re spending more time indoors, we need to make sure that we use a little bit of common sense and practice safety more than we would any other time of year since this is a big time for home fires,” said McLeieer.
He says keep anything that can burn at least three feet away from heat sources.
Space heaters should be plugged in one at a time, and you should have an escape plan for emergencies.
“We need to build that muscle memory so that we’re going to know what to do once that smoke alarm sounds, get out and stay out,” he said.
Scott Sanford, Manager for Code Enforcement in Lansing, says issues with smoke detectors are the number one problem they find when inspecting homes, or rental properties.
“One of the biggest things we find in almost everywhere we go is people take the batteries out of them, they move on, they take them down. They’re not located in the proper locations,” said Sanford. “We recommend that everyone, whether you’re renting or whether you’re owning, check smoke and carbon monoxide alarms at least monthly to make sure they’re operational.”
Don’t forget about your checking your furnace.
“You don’t know if there’s a crack in your heat exchanger until people start getting sick , or you end up calling you know for the fire department to come out,” said Sanford.
