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Fire outside mall ignites prevention advice
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| Columbia County firefighter Matt Herndon puts water on a small fire in front of J.C. Penney on Saturday. A tossed lit cigarette is thought to be the cause of the fire in the mulch. JEFF M. HARDISON/Lake City Reporter |
Officials think tossed and lit cigarette could have been culprit.
By JEFF M. HARDISON
jhardison@lakecityreporter.com
‘Tis the season to be jolly, but it is also the season to be careful with fire.
A miniature blaze Saturday morning outside the J.C. Penney store at the Lake City Mall brought a quick response from the Columbia County Fire Department, and it gave District Chief David Boozer reasons to speak about conditions.
A careless cigarette smoker appears to have tossed a lit butt into the mulch next to one of the trees in front of the store, CCFD Shift Commander Tad Cervantes said.
The CCFD has been called many times to control fires in the mulch around trees near the store. Smokers are failing to use common sense and they toss burning cigarettes.
The minor mulch inferno Saturday, Boozer said, is indicative of conditions in Columbia County right now.
“We’ve responded to seven or eight calls there (at J.C. Penney) this year,” Boozer said. “There’s been a trainload of calls. We are in a very critical state now. You know that if mulch caught fire that easily, then grass next to a road can catch and start a brush fire.”
There have been 2,809 wildfires that burned 183,536 acres throughout Florida from Jan. 1 through Nov. 2, according to the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Division of Forestry.
Cold weather, Boozer said, creates fire hazards. Frost kills vegetation. Drought presents a fire danger and the wind can exacerbate the situation, he added.
“In a three-day span,” he said, “we had five structure fires and two of those were from fireplaces. High electric bills are making people seek alternative heating methods to save money.
“But you have to pay real particular attention because fireplaces and kerosene heaters are very dangerous. You need to make sure your smoke detectors are working.”
Carbon monoxide detectors are important, he said, if the method of heating a home includes burning anything inside. Proper ventilation is critical. Houses today are built with very tightly sealed doors and windows.
Another problem can come from old soot.
If a fireplace sits idle, then particles from previous burning can sit in a chimney and become fuel, which ignites when a large fire is built in the fireplace. Cleaning chimneys is a good idea for safety, he said.
Homeless people used a fireplace this season in an abandoned house, Boozer said, and they caused it to catch on fire. Firefighters are seeing more sad stories this year than in the past, he said.
“It’s rough,” he said. “The things we are seeing this year are partly caused from the economic situation. People are looking for alternative ways to heat and this can be dangerous.”
A miniature blaze Saturday morning outside the J.C. Penney store at the Lake City Mall brought a quick response from the Columbia County Fire Department, and it gave District Chief David Boozer reasons to speak about conditions.
A careless cigarette smoker appears to have tossed a lit butt into the mulch next to one of the trees in front of the store, CCFD Shift Commander Tad Cervantes said.
The CCFD has been called many times to control fires in the mulch around trees near the store. Smokers are failing to use common sense and they toss burning cigarettes.
The minor mulch inferno Saturday, Boozer said, is indicative of conditions in Columbia County right now.
“We’ve responded to seven or eight calls there (at J.C. Penney) this year,” Boozer said. “There’s been a trainload of calls. We are in a very critical state now. You know that if mulch caught fire that easily, then grass next to a road can catch and start a brush fire.”
There have been 2,809 wildfires that burned 183,536 acres throughout Florida from Jan. 1 through Nov. 2, according to the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Division of Forestry.
Cold weather, Boozer said, creates fire hazards. Frost kills vegetation. Drought presents a fire danger and the wind can exacerbate the situation, he added.
“In a three-day span,” he said, “we had five structure fires and two of those were from fireplaces. High electric bills are making people seek alternative heating methods to save money.
“But you have to pay real particular attention because fireplaces and kerosene heaters are very dangerous. You need to make sure your smoke detectors are working.”
Carbon monoxide detectors are important, he said, if the method of heating a home includes burning anything inside. Proper ventilation is critical. Houses today are built with very tightly sealed doors and windows.
Another problem can come from old soot.
If a fireplace sits idle, then particles from previous burning can sit in a chimney and become fuel, which ignites when a large fire is built in the fireplace. Cleaning chimneys is a good idea for safety, he said.
Homeless people used a fireplace this season in an abandoned house, Boozer said, and they caused it to catch on fire. Firefighters are seeing more sad stories this year than in the past, he said.
“It’s rough,” he said. “The things we are seeing this year are partly caused from the economic situation. People are looking for alternative ways to heat and this can be dangerous.”
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D wrote on Nov 23, 2008 4:50 PM: