Candis Waller was hoping for a good Christmas.

But after her mobile home burned to the ground, the 27-year-old wonders if that's possible.

"Last year, I had a Christmas, and it wasn't all that good, either," she said. "I don't want to make it a bad Christmas again."

Tuesday's fire left the rural Burleson County mobile home that Waller shared with her aunt, Tammy Allen, and two school-aged cousins a charred pile of rubble. Nothing was salvageable.

Since Thanksgiving, three blazes, including a fatal house fire in Robertson County, have taken their toll, and fire officials are asking residents to be careful this holiday season.

Waller said she returned home to see her house disintegrate into flames. The family lost everything, but Waller remains grateful that no one was injured.

"I don't know what could have caused it. I didn't leave anything on," she said. "It was an older house. It could have been the wires, but I'm not for sure."

Firefighters have said an electric heater could be to blame.

More than 4,000 Americans die each year in fires and approximately 20,000 more are injured, said Bart Humphreys, a spokesman for the College Station Fire Department.

Deaths caused by winter fires are particularly preventable, he said, and electrical fires are a special concern during this time of year because the winter typically involves more indoor activities and increased use of lights, heaters and appliances.

Humphreys said it is important to inspect holiday lights yearly for frayed wire and gaps in the insulation or broken or cracked sockets. And as soon as the Christmas tree dries out, it should be removed from the home.

Space heaters should have emergency shut-offs, and ovens should never be used to heat homes.

In Robertson County last week, an 81-year-old disabled man was found dead after his house caught fire.

Robertson County Sheriff's Department Chief Deputy Jerry Stover said Thursday that officials didn't know the cause of the fire that killed Curtis Edwards in his rural home outside Franklin, where he lived alone.

Authorities said he might have been physically unable to escape the burning house.

On Monday, a College Station restaurant suffered extensive damage from a fire, authorities said.

It took firefighters about 30 minutes to extinguish the blaze at Jin's Chinese Restaurant after a passer-by reported flames coming from the Northgate establishment.

The fire appears to have started inside the building, Humphreys said, but the cause remains under investigation.

"Sometimes they're not easy to determine," he said. "Most of the evidence gets burnt up."

For Waller, the hardest part is starting over. She is struggling to come up with money to turn on the electricity in a mobile home she's staying in not far from her damaged home. And her 9- and 4-year-old cousins, who attend Snook Elementary School, lost all of their clothes and toys in the fire.

She's asking for the community's help to get back on her feet.

"We need everything that a person could give us," Waller said. "We take hand-me-downs and everything."

FIRE SAFETY TIPS:

• Have the furnace and chimney professionally inspected and cleaned annually. Chimney tar buildup is a common cause of fires.

• Make sure space heaters have emergency shut-offs in case they tip over. Kerosene heaters are not permitted in many areas.

• Use a glass or metal screen in front of a fireplace to prevent sparks from igniting carpets or furniture.

• Dispose of hot ashes in covered metal containers placed away from the house.

• Never use the oven to heat a home.

• Have a working smoke alarm.

• Do not place the tree close to a heat source.

• Never put tree branches or pine needles in a fireplace or wood-burning stove.

• Inspect holiday lights each year for frayed wire, bare spots, gaps in the insulation and broken or cracked sockets.

TO DONATE

• To help Candis Waller and her family, call 218-0092

• The family needs household items, school supplies, groceries, hygiene items, small appliances and anything used on a daily basis.

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