ROCKY POINT, NC (WECT) - The Fire Chief of the Rocky Point station in Pender County says they have seen about a 40 percent increase in the number of structure fires so far in 2012, in comparison to 2011.
In November alone, firefighters responded to four structure fires already. In 2011, they only had 12 fires all year. Chief Joshua Moss says for the most part the increase is due to the fact that people are not paying attention.
He says a lot of the fires are caused by cigarette butts that were not thrown away correctly.
"Just carelessness," said Moss. "People throwing cigarette butts where they shouldn't, people leaving things unattended,"
Nobody was seriously injured in the fires, but Moss says with the holidays approaching it's important for people to be especially careful.
He says people should keep their Christmas Trees watered, plan an escape route and check smoke detectors. He also says candles can cause a lot of fires and that artificial trees are just as likely to cause fires as real ones.
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