BEATRICE - As we move into the cooler months of the year, there’s a new set of precautions that need to be taken for fire safety. Beatrice Fire Chief Brian Daake explained ways to prevent winter fires from happening near you.

“If you have a wood burning stove, a fireplace, there are professionals out there who will come and clean the chimney,” Daake said. “It’s always recommended you do tat before the season.”

Daake noted that winter months yield more structural fires than warmer months. The reason for this, stems from methods people use to generate warmth in their homes.

"A lot of it is using old space heaters,” Daake said. “Modern space heaters now, they have a safety feature that if they fall they shut off, but older ones don’t.”

It’s also recommended to use dry wood instead of green wood in fireplaces, while also monitoring them for uninvited guests who may be looking for a warm spot to hole up for winter.

“Birds sometimes will build nests in them if you don’t have the chimney covered up well,” Daake said. “Other critters will get in their and make a nest so you want to make sure you have good air flow. And then just the creosote and the carbon builds up so that’s why we recommend get them checked once a year.”

Another thing the Beatrice Fire Department is doing to help prevent fire and keep people alert, is providing new batteries for smoke alarms.

“With the change of time we had last week, everybody should put in fresh 9-volt batteries in all your smoke detectors, carbon monoxide detectors, alarms,” Daake said. “If anyone’s in need of new 9-volt’s, we have them here at 310 Ella.”