Jackson Fire Department shares tips for fire safety during National Fire Prevention Week

JACKSON, TENN (WNBJ)-

“With our busy schedules and all the things we have to worry about, from doctor visits and switching off smoke alarms or appointments and going to school into work. It's important that we take a little time set aside to just focus on the fire prevention,” Latrell Billingsley, the Public Information Officer for the Jackson Fire Department, said.

This is the 100th year of National Fire Prevention Week- a week dedicated to educating the public on fire safety and prevention.

Billingsley said, “Make sure you stay in the kitchen while you're cooking; unattended cooking and unexperienced cookers are our number one causes of fire in the home. Don't smoke indoors, of course. Smoke outside. Be sure that if you plug in an appliance in your home, plug it into directly into an outlet. Don't use an extension cord or a surge protector for your major appliances and things like that… grill a good distance away from the house so that you don't catch your house or the adjacent buildings on fire.”

Latrell Billingsley with the Jackson Fire Department says having a smoke alarm that you test month is one of the best ways to prevent fire in your home.

In the case of a fire in your home, you don't have a lot of time to react, so it's vital that you have a plan.

“In years past, you had anywhere from 17 to 20 minutes before a house would burn down and filled with daily black smoke. Now we have approximately 2 minutes before the room fills up with deadly black smoke that can kill you," Billingsley said.

He says having a plan can be the difference between life and death.

“How you would get out of every room in that house, whether it be 3:00 in the afternoon or 3:00 in the morning, you want to plan your escape around your ability….so you plan that and you practice daytime at least twice a year. so you have a meeting place outside, whether it is the tree or a mailbox or a neighbor's house,” Billingsley said.

The Fire Department hopes that this week prepares people for a year's worth of protection.