Over the past month, Southern New England has seen some serious fires which made homes unlivable, reduced businesses to rubble, and in some cases even turned deadly.
“When you go to a fire and the fire department pulls up and there’s a house fully engulfed in flames, it’s devastating,” Rhode Island State Fire Marshal Timothy McLaughlin said Monday.
Fires like the one that killed two people in Providence and another that destroyed a furniture store in Lincoln can happen to anyone in just a matter of moments, according to McLaughlin.
He said building fires become more common as the weather gets colder.
“We’re fortunate we haven’t hit that cold stretch, but it’s coming,” McLaughlin added. To help prevent these fires, McLaughlin warned people to use caution when heating their homes this winter.