After fires damaged or destroyed homes around the upper Ohio Valley in recent weeks, fire officials have offered reminders of how to stay safe in the winter months, balancing the need to keep homes warm while keeping them free from fire.

Wheeling saw two back-to-back house fires last week, with one on Vance Avenue in Warwood on Jan. 29 and another on Lynwood Avenue in Woodsdale on Jan. 30. A home on Sixth Street in Benwood was severely damaged by a Jan. 31 fire. Another Benwood house fire the same week only caused minimal damage. On the other side of the river, a Jan. 21 fire in Martins Ferry took out a family’s home and the two homes neighboring it.

Fire officials don’t look at that as a concern for a spike in house fires, but did have suggestions for how to prevent them.

Benwood Public Safety Director Frank Longwell said those fires tend to be more common in the cold months. Older homes are not as well insulated and do not hold heat as well, which is when space heaters tend to be more necessary and present an increased fire risk, he said.

“During the winter you’ve really got to be aware. More people use space heaters and you have to make sure those space heaters are not overloading your circuit and don’t put them real close to items,” he said. “You can’t just turn them on and forget about them.”

Older builds also have more flammable components like dry wood and drywall, which can contribute to the spread of a fire once it starts.

“The older homes from the electrical boxes to the power load to the wiring and plugs, they’re way different than the new constructed homes,” he said.

Now, homes often have sprinkler systems, fire blocks in the walls and fire resistant carpeting, he said.

Longwell also suggested periodically checking on smoke detector batteries and planning out escape routes in the case of a fire.

Wheeling Fire Chief Jim Blazier echoed Longwell’s sentiments: fires in Wheeling have not been out of the ordinary this year. Rather, the recent fires have been unfortunate incidents.

When it’s really cold in the winter, heating puts more stress on the electric systems in homes, just as using the air conditioning during heat waves in the summer does.

“The colder it is, the harder everything is working,” he said.

He said for those with older homes, it may be advantageous to consult an electrician to make sure everything is safe and up to date.

He also encouraged safe behaviors around portable generators, like making sure they are far enough from your home to not be leaking exhaust into the home.