Last week, a trailer fire near Oxford killed an infant, his mother and his grandfather in the middle of the night. The fire's suspected origin was a wood heater with a faulty chimney.

In Durham, firefighters plucked an elderly man from bed as his home burned around him. He and his brother had been using an old stove for heat. The man suffered smoke injuries but lived. The brothers' house is gone.

A house fire Monday in Eden apparently killed the home's owner, who had used kerosene heaters throughout the house.

"This time of year, I worry about how many people are going to be careless with heaters," said Kenneth Crews, Durham's city fire marshal. "They don't anticipate the dangers. I hope people will become more fire-safety conscious, and more lives will be saved." There's much to improve.

From 1994 to 2002, half of the state's fatal house fires occurred between December and March, according to data from the state medical examiner's office. The worst two months are the coldest: January and February.

The yearly number of fatal fires has held fairly steady despite North Carolina's population growth, averaging 137 the past nine years. The total in 2002 was 139.

House fires constitute a disproportionate share of all fires during the four winter months, since less than 40 percent of all kinds of reported fires occur then, according to data from the state Department of Insurance. It gets back to the mix of cold weather and human mistakes. "There's a correlation," said Chrissy Pearson, spokeswoman for the Insurance Department. "We always advise folks to be more careful about fires this time of year." The people who fight and try to help prevent fires see the same problems time and again. And the same causes:

* Malfunctioning furnaces, fireplaces and heaters, often as a result of skipping maintenance.
* Unattended fireplaces and heaters, especially space heaters. This includes letting them burn unwatched at night.
* Heaters and candles placed too close to billowing curtains, towels, clothes and other things that can catch fire.
* Absent or broken home smoke detectors and families without a practiced escape plan.
* Careless residents. Some assume that it can't happen to them or take foolish risks.

"People think, 'I'm just going to do it this one time. I know it happens to other people, but it won't happen to me,' " said Raleigh Fire Marshal Larry Stanford. "That attitude keeps us in business." Stanford, Crews and others say people naturally take greater risks when it's coldest. People's primal human survival instinct to stay warm clouds their judgment, often with tragic results. "When you're cold, you don't think too clearly," Stanford said. "All you think about is, 'What can I do to stay warm?' People are going to try to stay warm even if it means them getting sick, burned -- or even dead sometimes." Frequent heater maintenance, increased alertness and smart heater selection and placement can help keep people safe through the winter. And happy during the holidays. "It's the season to be jolly," Crews said. "It's also the season to be careful."



TIPS TO HELP PREVENT HOUSE FIRES

* Hire a professional to clean and repair your heater, fireplace, furnace or wood stove in the fall, before the weather gets cold. But it's never too late to do it.
* Avoid space heaters if possible, especially those fueled by kerosene. If you use space heaters, buy only those approved by Underwriters Laboratories. And don't use extension cords with electric heaters.
* Keep all heaters at least three feet from anything that can catch fire, including billowing curtains at their farthest reach.
* If you leave the room, turn the heater off. Don't sleep with fireplaces, candles or space heaters burning.
* Install smoke detectors and keep the batteries fresh.
* Devise a simple fire escape plan, and practice it with your family.
* Use your eyes, ears and nose to stay alert for a fire. If one erupts, get out of the house fast, and then get help.

(From Staff Reports)
(News researcher David Raynor contributed to this report.)
Staff writer Matthew Eisley can be reached at 829-4538 or meisley@newsobserver.com.
News researcher David Raynor contributed to this report.