As colder temperatures descend on our area, many of us will pull out space heaters to warm our homes. That means we can expect to see a small uptick in fires caused by the devices.
“Most everybody I know uses them,” says Fire Inspector Steve Henrichson of the St. Joseph Fire Department. “The main thing is giving them a lot of space.”
As we reported, firefighters responded last week to a house fire on St. Joseph Ave. that was blamed on a space heater. Henrichson says we could see more.
“During the first cold snap, we’ll see a small increase in one or two usually, every year,” he says.
These fires can be prevented. Henrichson says you should plus the heaters directly into the wall, and not use an extension cord because he says most extension cords aren’t rated for the amount of electricity that a space heater will pull.
“And then giving it plenty of space, which is roughly three feet,” Henrichson says, “nothing within three feet of a space heater that is combustible, that will catch on fire.”
“Its mainly clothes, drapes, things like that that people don’t think about when they place them.”
Angie Springs of the American Red Cross of Northwest Missouri says nearly half of all households use alternative heat sources, including fireplaces.
“Fixed and portable space heaters, incuding wood stoves, are involved in 74% of all fire-related deaths in the nation,” Springs says.
One tip she offers is to find a new model, one that will shut itself off if it’s knocked over.
“Faulty ones could be the ones that fall over and they don’t shut off,” she says. “it’s definitely a fire hazard, because for some reason that’s been tipped over, a child knocked it over, or perhaps an animal, or maybe you knocked it over without even knowing it. As that heater continues to run, it becomes a fire hazard.”
Springs agrees that placement of a space heater is essential for fire safety.
“Space heaters should be placed on hard, level, non-flammable surfaces in the home,” she says. “It should have a three foot circumference around that space heater, so that it doesn’t get too hot and catch items on fire.”
“And they should never, ever be left unattended, and keep children and pets away from those space heaters.”