The holidays are just around the corner. It's a time for families to celebrate a joyous Christmas together and hope for a prosperous 2011 as they ring in the New Year. But it's no time for a fire to put a damper on the festivities.

So for the third consecutive year, local firefighters are asking Osceola County residents to practice fire prevention through the Keep the Wreath Green campaign. Osceola County Fire Rescue, St. Cloud Fire Rescue and the Kissimmee Fire Department are displaying large wreaths with green light bulbs at designated fire stations during the month of December. Each time there is a residential fire, firefighters will replace a green bulb on the wreath with a red bulb. The goal is to have no red bulbs at the end of the month. It's just another tool firefighters are using try to keep residents safe and we applaud them for it.

The American Red Cross Mid-Florida Region released a press release this week stating that agency volunteers assisted 123 after 29 fires in December.

We believe one fire is just too much.

According to the National Fire Protection Association, from 2003-06, U.S. fire departments responded to an estimated average of 150,200 home structure fires involving cooking equipment per year. These fires caused an annual average of 500 civilian deaths, 4,660 civilian injuries, and $756 million in direct property damage.

Using space heaters improperly also can be costly. Space heaters result in far more fires and losses than central heating devices, fire association reports said. On average, between 2004 and 2008, fixed (stationary) and portable space heaters (excluding fireplaces, chimneys and chimney connectors, but including wood stoves) annually accounted for one-third (32 percent) of reported U.S. home heating fires, four out of five (82 percent) associated civilian deaths, nearly two-thirds (64 percent) of associated civilian injuries, and half (51 percent) of associated direct property damage.

Some space heater owners make the mistake of putting combustibles too close to the units.

The leading cause of home heating fire deaths (52 percent) was heating equipment being placed too close to things that can burn, such as upholstered furniture, clothing, mattresses or bedding.

So this season, let’s take some extra precaution to prevent fires. Don't leave candles unattended. Don't overload electrical outlets with holiday decorations and lights and make sure the smoke alarms are working.

And hopefully, the only warm feelings felt will be from spending time with family this holiday season.