The recent drop in temperatures has led to an increase in home fires across Iowa. The Red Cross reports, since November 1, the agency has sent disaster teams to 28 home fires around the state. State Fire Marshal Jeff Quigle (KWIG-ul) says a lot of fires at this time of year are sparked by the improper use of space heaters. He advises people to turn off the space heater when they leave the room and to use a newer model that shuts off automatically if it’s knocked over.

Quigle is also reminding Iowans to have smoke alarms installed on every level of their home and make sure they have fresh batteries. So far this year, 31 people have died in structure fires in Iowa.

There were 25 fire-related fatalities reported in Iowa over all of 2013. That was down from 42 in 2012.