Fireproofing your home - WFXG FOX54 Augusta - Your News One Hour Earlier

The temperatures took a serious dip Monday and many people across the CSRA cranked up space heaters and started fires to stay warm.

Richmond County Fire Investigator, Lt. Carlton Bradley showed us how to practice fire safety during the colder months.

"Now I'm on the floor, I'm over here, I'm crawling, the doorknob is hot, I can't go that way," demonstrated Bradley.

Bradley said when there's a fire and smoke is filling the room you only have seconds to get to safety.

"Three minutes to five minutes there's going to be so much smoke, it's going to be heavy inside that home. It's going to be critical that everyone in the family know exactly what to do," said Bradley.

Because there are only seconds, planned escape routes can make the difference between life and death. 

He said situations like this happen every day but many times they don't have to, "Probably 70-80% of them are preventable fires."

He says most house fires are started by space heaters, dryers and cooking.

Bradley says when you don't watch these things closely they can start a fire and completely destroy a home.

Bradley says there are some big do's and don'ts to follow in fireproofing your home.

"Don't plug a space heater into an extension cord. Make sure you burn hard wood not pine wood in the fire place. Make sure the flue is open and make sure there's a screen on top so the embers can't get out and get on top of the house," Bradley, said.

So as the temperatures drop even more stay warm and stay safe.

This is fire prevention week and if you would like the fire department to demonstrate how to check fire alarms and more call Bradley at (706) 821-2489.