JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV) – Deputy Fire Chief Cleotha Sanders said over the course of this week, there have been back-to-back fires in Jackson.

On Wednesday, three structure fires happened within a block of each other. The fire began on Adelle Court and Sidway Street when two abandoned homes caught fire.

The cause of the fires are unknown, but Sanders said there has been an increase in fires across the capital city this week.

“There are various reasons for each fire, most of them being that the cause was undetermined. With that, our investigators are working tirelessly everyday to assist the firefighters once the fire has been extinguished to make a determination with the regard to origin and cause,” Sanders said.

He said firefighters rescued a baby trapped inside a burning home near Teresa Drive earlier this week.

“We did have one infant that was injured. The firefighters did a great job rescuing the infant once they arrived on scene and received reports of entrapment. So, our firefighters were able to enter the home fairly quickly and conduct a primary search. When they found the infant, they brought the infant out and provided patient care until personnel arrived,” Sanders explained.

He said this year, there have been six fire-related deaths in Jackson. Sanders encouraged the community to take advantage of the department’s Fire Safety and Education Division.

“We believe that if our community is well educated with regard to fire safety, that will keep our firefighters from having to respond so much. But, we are here. Jackson Fire Department is here to assist in your time of need. But we believe if we have so many accidental fires, our firefighters wouldn’t have to respond to something that was preventable” he said.

The Jackson Fire Department (JFD) hosts emergency preparedness training classes every Thursday at their station near Woodrow Wilson Avenue.