UPDATE: OKEMOS - Bathroom fans are probably the last thing someone would think could cause a fire, but they're a constant cause and most of the time

"I don't think it's a really bigger cause of fires, it's a pretty constant cause. We have probably 3 to 5 fires a year from bathroom fans," Said Mark Hornberger, Meridian Township Fire Inspector.

And it's probably due to the fact that people don't pay much attention to them.

"It's something you don't think about, something you never do any maintenance on and its something that does need maintenance, said Mark Hornberger, Meridian Township Fire Inspector. It needs to be cleaned occasionally and possibly lubricated and you know if it started making a lot of noise, rattling and what not, it needs to be replaced."

Bathroom fans are one of the least common fire starters, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't take precaution because knowing something as simple as how good your fan should sound, can determine whether your house burns down.

And to prevent homes from burning down, the fire department is doing some work in homes when they can.

As the fire department, what we do is we pull your ceilings down to make sure that we catch all of that fire that could be up in the installation," said Hornberger.

And when they're not able to get into peoples homes, they have a few tips for home owners to prevent fires themselves.

" It might not hurt to pull one of them down take a look at it clean all of the dust off of it. Maybe a drop or two of oil on the shafts on each side of the motor," said Hornberger.

"If it's not spinning easily, if it's making noise, grinding especially those types of things, it should be replaced," said Hornberger.

If your bathroom fan doesn't sound normal, don't hesitate to call the fire department.

ORIGINAL STORY: OKEMOS - Bathroom fans are something to be cautious of, find out why on Beyond the Badge.