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Councilwoman Jannie Thomas was awakened at 3 a.m. last Thursday morning to another fire at an abandoned home in Ward 7, her ward.

In the past, her ward has experienced a number of fires, especially during cold weather months, that may have been caused by homeless persons living in the abandoned homes. Those persons typically will seek out shelter in abandoned homes during cold weather even though the utilities have been cut off.

“I’m concerned that this is going to start up again,” Thomas said. “It’s a safety issue for our community. We need the property owners to secure these homes so that no one can go inside.”

Thomas also said that many of the old homes that have partially burned up in the past are still there. She is asking for homeowners to help clean up the properties after fires so that it makes the community look better.

“We have a number of older homes in my district,” Thomas said. “Many of them are abandoned with no power or any utilities running on the inside. I am asking them to board up the entrances and windows to keep people from living inside these homes.”

During a work session Thursday night, the Selma councilwoman asked that Fire Chief Richard Byrd give an update on these fires in her ward to see what can be done to prevent more of them.