Fire and Rescue NSW said it often observes a 10 per cent increase in the number of residential fires during the cooler months, and there have been seven fire fatalities already in 2021.

Turvey Park Fire Station captain Steven Beck reminded Wagga residents of key fire safety practices to follow, reiterating the importance of maintaining home smoke detectors with a chilling warning.

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"You won't smell the smoke when you're asleep," he said. "No ifs, buts or maybes."

"Make sure your smoke alarm is working, change the batteries. A lot of [detectors] are well over their 10-year service life as well, so they'll need to be replaced."

He also pushed the major state-wide message of respecting the "metre from the heater" rule this year.

"Make sure you don't have clothing close to your heater," Mr Beck said.

"I personally have attended many calls where the fire has been caused by clothing too close to the heater, or wood for the fire stacked too close that's gotten dry and gone up."

Finally, he said every household should get a solid fire safety plan organised, with a pre-determined escape route and meeting point.

"Escape plans are really important, if your [smoke alarms] do go off where are you going to go?" he said.

He reminded people to close doors behind them as they left the home, and to never go back into a burning building.

When organising a meeting point, he said aim to meet at the front letter box, warning fenced backyards can pose access risks for rescue workers.

"You can get trapped in your backyard if the fire's really cracking which might limit your escape possibilities.," he said.

"There was one fire in Evans Street a few years back where we had to kick a hole in the fence to get them out."

Fire and Rescue NSW have issued the following state-wide checklist for at-home fire safety:

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