HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – Summer is a busy month for many, it means school is out and vacation time! Although, for the Huntsville Fire & Rescue…work doesn’t stop.
While the cooler months are typically the busiest for Huntsville Fire Department, during the summer there are types of fires they see more often.
One to look out for, starts with your grill.
“Open it up, inspect it, make sure that its clean,” said Captain Frank McKenzie with Huntsville Fire & Rescue. “That’s a big thing. If you have a lot of grease in it from the previous year, if you didn’t clean it out during the winter, before you cook…take your grease pans out and clean the pans.”
During summer, there’s no question, it can be dry. Captain McKenzie says that can contribute to fires over summer too.
“A lot of the fires we deal with in the summer months are a lot of grass fires, especially when we have dry areas,” said Captain McKenzie. “Ya know, people going around flicking cigarettes out, things like that.”
Certain conditions also make it easy for fires to travel.
“When its dry and especially when the winds up and the humidity is low,” said Captain McKenzie.
As an extra step of precaution Captain McKenzie says know where your fire extinguisher is located and keep a water source nearby when grilling.