Firefighters speak on preventing fires during summer heat
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JACKSON, Tenn. — As the temperatures rise in West Tennessee, firefighters in Jackson said to take extra precautions in using air conditioning units. After a fire early Saturday morning on Baker Street, the homeowner told Jackson firefighters that he noticed his AC unit kept turning on and off. He went to flip the breaker and later woke up to heavy smoke in his home. The house was destroyed. Firefighters said the cause is still under investigation but that more people should be alert to overusing their breaker systems trying to escape the summer heat. “A lot of times we go into people’s homes who’ve had electrical problems, like lights dimming or things they plug in won’t stay on,” said Capt. Russell Downen at the Jackson Fire Department. Downen said unit malfunctions could be a sign that too much pressure is being put on the breaker by too many appliances such as AC units, fans or other cooling units. “If it continues to do that, you need to have that breaker replaced,” Downen said. Tina Chouinard lives a few streets away from the charred home and said the tips will make her use more caution in cooling down this summer. “It’ll help prevent something like that from happening, cause that’s just terrible,” Chouinard said. Firefighters also suggested new homeowners and renters have a professional electrician inspect their home for faulty wiring and conduct annual inspections for home safety.
