County urges fire safety with Keep Your Holidays Bright campaign

Santa Rosa County emergency service agencies are teaming up for the fifth year to promote fire safety during the month of December with the "Keep Your Holidays Bright" campaign.

While a joyous time of year, cold weather, holiday decorations and festivities can create serious fire dangers. Fire fighters hope to reduce the number of fires in Santa Rosa County by promoting simple, life-saving holiday safety tips each day, Dec, 1 - 31.

In addition to the daily fire safety tips, Santa Rosa's Keep Your Holidays Bright campaign centers around a Christmas tree located in the Santa Rosa County Administration Complex on Caroline Street, decorated with electric candles. Each time firefighters respond to a working residential fire or large wildfire causing fire damage, a candle will be "extinguished" and replaced with a card noting the basic details of the fire. In the first year nine candles were extinguished on the safety tree, three in the second year, six in the 2009 campaign and four in 2010.

Last year in Navarre, two people died in a residential home fire on Big Oak Loop. The cause of the fire was undetermined, though according to first responders, the homeowners may have been hoarders.

The initial on-site investigation revealed that rooms were stacked to the ceiling with papers and books while another may have been littered with appliances and other objects, which made finding the true cause of the blaze difficult.

According to the United States Fire Administration, fires occurring during the holiday season claim the lives of over 400 people, injure 1,650, and cause over $990 million in damage. Nationally, cooking is the leading cause of residential building fires in December, accounting for 41 percent of fires, followed by heating fires at 28 percent, open flame fires at nine percent, and incendiary/suspicious fires seven percent.

Each fire department in Santa Rosa County including Allentown Volunteer Fire, Avalon Fire/Rescue, Bagdad Volunteer Fire, Berrydale Volunteer Fire, the City of Milton Fire, East Milton Fire and Rescue, Gulf Breeze Volunteer Fire, Harold Volunteer Fire, Holley-Navarre Fire District, Jay Volunteer Fire, Midway Fire District, Munson Volunteer Fire and Rescue, Inc.; Navarre Beach Fire, Pace Fire/Rescue District, Skyline Fire and Rescue District, Florida Forest Service, Santa Rosa County Emergency Management and Lifeguard Ambulance Service are working together to promote holiday safety.