With the Thanksgiving holiday about a week away, Vicksburg firefighters provided a few tips on fire safety for those attending Monday’s Board of Mayor and Aldermen meeting.

One of the first suggestions involved cooking, which has been the source of some recent fires.

“Cook with caution,” Vicksburg fire inspector Nathaniel Williams said. “If you’re leaving your home don’t leave your stove on. Don’t start cooking and leave the house. Turn it off.”

If grease catches on fire, people need to find something like a lid to put over it and smother the fire.

To prevent electric heater fires, Williams said, people should clean them before use.

“The vents on the back of an electric heater get clogged with dust,” he said. “Try and keep them clean; clean them before the season starts. If you have a heater in your office, please cut it off before you leave for home. At home, cut them off before you go to bed and if you leave home.”

Williams held up a partially melted power strip.

“This is not meant for major appliances,” he said. “If you have major appliances, please, please, use a wall socket or get a certified electrician to install one. These are not made for major appliances.”

People need to remove multiple socket additions that plug into a socket.

“These are good for no more than a lamp,” he said.

The same goes for cheap, thin extension cords.

“It’s not made for permanent use,” Williams said, warning people not to run the cords under doorways or carpets. “They’ll get hot and catch fire.”

Candles should be used with caution and kept away from children and pets.

Williams recommended families should hold fire drills.

“They practice fire drills at school so we should practice fire drills at home,” he said. “Make sure the children know where to go and there are two ways out of every room if possible. You need to practice to get outside, and once you get outside, stay out.”

Vicksburg Fire Chief Craig Danczyk said the fire department has smoke alarms and if needed, people can call the fire department at 601-636-1603 to get on the list for firefighters to install the alarms.

“This is probably the number-one way to prevent fires at home, and every home should have a working smoke alarm. There’s no reason why a home in Vicksburg and Warren County should not have a smoke alarm,” Danczyk said.

Also, he said, property owners with gas appliances or heaters should have a carbon monoxide alarm.