The winter season is here and along with it are bitterly cold temperatures, which means homeowners are starting to use heating sources to warm their homes.

Jefferson Fire Chief Jack Williams reminds homeowners to change their furnace filters, because dirty filters can catch on fire easily. Space heaters are also a popular choice for the colder months and Williams recommends not overloading your home’s circuits.

“If you’ve got two outlets and then you plug in a powerstrip that has six or more, and you’ve plugged in two base heaters you’re going to overload the circuit, and either pop the breaker or start a fire. So just make sure that you’re not using too many appliances on one outlet.”

Williams adds to keep space heaters away from plastics, papers, curtains or any other flammable material that could start a fire.