GROVES, Texas — At least four homes in Southeast Texas were destroyed by fires over the holiday weekend, with one of of them being fatal. A grease fire and electrical fire are two of the causes for some of these fires.
Officials say your chances of survival are higher if you know all your potential exits and where everyone is located. You only have about three minutes to escape a burning home.
"The timeframe used to be around 17 minutes but that was when most of the items in our homes was ordinary combustible," said Port Arthur Fire Chief Greg Benson.
He says fire escape times have dramatically decreased over the years, meaning you have less time to get out of a burning house. This is because of modern furniture.
"The flames are one thing. But all of the synthetic materials that we have in our houses. When they start burning, they're starting to put out toxic, highly toxic products. That affect us when we breathe it in. So that may also affect our ability to make a decision to get out," Benson said.
Groves Fire Chief Lance Billeaud has seen this happen firsthand.
He says that 83-year-old Norma Cole who died in a Groves house fire on Friday tried to escape.
"The way the fire where the lady was, she kind of got trapped by the fire. She got a little disoriented. And that's all about I can really tell you, right now on this investigation. It is a tragic accident in the whole thing. I know that our guys did the best of they could," said Billeaud.
It's important to make an escape plan ahead of time.
"You do want to call a family meeting. You want to tell everybody where your smoke detectors are, what the alarm is going to sound like. Test it in front of everybody so they know what it sounds like. Also, you need to show them how to open up their windows," Billeaud said.
Make sure you are checking your smoke detectors twice a year.
"That smoke detector goes off and you hear that, and that wakes you up or makes you aware. And you need to know and this goes back to the plan. What are we going to do?" said Benson.
Firefighters say the risk of house fires increases during the winter,
"I just want to make sure that everybody stays safe this holiday season. Don't overload. Your electrical cords. Buy a little bit of higher priced electrical cords,"
Winter is a busy time for first responders. From Christmas trees, to space heaters, cooking mishaps and electrical fires.
Firefighters encourage everyone to make a fire escape evacuation plan.