Christmas Eve Fire Damages Trailer

December 25, 2009

A Christmas Eve fire added the ninth red bulb in the Escambia County Fire-Rescue “Keep the Wreath Green” holiday fire safety campaign.

At 5:50 p.m. Thursday, a fire was reported in the 7700 block of North Palafox Street. When firefighters arrived on scene, they found a fire in the kitchen of a mobile home. The fire, declared under control at 6:10 p.m. caused moderate damage to the kitchen and smoke damage throughout the rest of the home.

While there were two smoke alarms in the home, neither was functional. There was no one home at the time of the fire and no injuries were reported. The cause of the fire was determined to have been from a pan of grease that was left unattended on the stove. Firefighters from Ensley, Brent, Ferry Pass, Bellview and Osceola responded to the scene.

Escambia County Fire-Rescue and the City of Pensacola Fire Department will continue the “Keep the Wreath Green” fire safety campaign throughout the holiday season. This year, the fifth year of the campaign, five-foot wreaths will be on display at 22 different locations throughout the holiday season. These sites are the Old Escambia County Courthouse on Palafox Place, the Public Safety Building on W Street, all 18 primary county fire stations, and two fire stations within the City of Pensacola. Every time firefighters respond to a residential fire, a green light bulb will be replaced with a red one to remind citizens of the dangers posed by holiday decorations.

All nine red bulbs lit so far have been for fires south of Nine Mile Road. No serious residential fires have been reported in North Escambia this December.

Escambia County Fire Rescue offers the following a few safety tips involving cooking:

  • The leading cause of fires in the kitchen is unattended cooking.
  • Stay in the kitchen when you are frying, grilling, or broiling food. If you leave the kitchen for even a short period of time, turn off the stove.
  • If you are simmering, baking, roasting, or boiling food, check it regularly, remain in the home while food is cooking, and use a timer to remind you that you’re cooking.
  • Stay alert! To prevent cooking fires, you have to be alert. You won’t be if you are sleepy, have been drinking alcohol, or have taken medicine that makes you drowsy.
  • Keep anything that can catch fire – potholders, oven mitts, wooden utensils, paper or plastic bags, food packaging, towels, or curtains – away from your stovetop.
  • Keep the stovetop, burners, and oven clean.
  • Keep pets off cooking surfaces and nearby countertops to prevent them from knocking things onto the burner.
  • Wear short, close-fitting or tightly rolled sleeves when cooking. Loose clothing can dangle onto stove burners and catch fire if it comes into contact with a gas flame or electric burner.

Comments

Comments are closed.

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News