A cold snap this week and Beaufort County residents are feeling the first deep chill of winter. Wednesday, temperatures will be a balmy 47 degrees compared with the high of 40 degrees on Tuesday and 38 on Monday.

With the cold weather comes the need to warm up, and officials are warning people to be careful how they heat.

“The biggest concern I have is how they plan to stay warm. Typically, when we have these cold snaps it’s not uncommon to see fires from how people heat their houses—electric heaters, kerosene heaters,” said Chris Newkirk, chief of fire/emergency management for Beaufort County Emergency Services. “It’s not uncommon for us to see people trying to heat with their stoves. … We know people are going to do whatever they can to stay warm in their homes.”

Fires from heating equipment are the second-largest cause of fire in U.S. homes, according to the National Fire Protection Association, second only to cooking fires. More than 50,000 home fires involving heating equipment occurred each year from 2012 to 2016, causing 490 deaths, 1,400 injuries and $1 billion in direct property damage.

Newkirk said it’s during the first cold of the winter that there’s a greater risk for housefire, especially for those who have fireplaces. Making sure a chimney is clear and well maintained is crucial to home fire safety.

“(We see that) particularly with a winter like we’ve had — t’s been mild — and people have not lit their fires,” Newkirk said. “We’re just asking everybody to think it through. Be safe in how you heat your home.”

With the temperature once again dipping into the upper 20s overnight Wednesday, Newkirk said pet owners need to make sure their outdoor pets are protected from the elements.

“We don’t need to forget out pets, because cold weather impacts them as well,” Newkirk said. “Make sure bedding is off the ground; there’s something to shelter them from the wind. One thing that people overlook is frozen water — they’ve got a nice, insulated dog house with straw in it, but the water bowl’s been frozen over for two days.”

The mild winter so far could be a sign of weather to come.

“You know you listen to all the old timers, they say when winter starts mild like this we’re going to have a cold February and March. Is that what’s being set up? I don’t know,” Newkirk said.

According to “The Old Farmer’s Almanac,” February is predicted to have an average temperature 1 degree above normal, as well as normal precipitation, while March is forecasted to be 2 degrees below normal, with above-average precipitation.

Newkirk, however, said that cold is good for eastern North Carolina: “If it stays mild, that feeds into warmer coastal waters, and potentially bigger hurricanes. We’ll see how it all shakes out.”