With at least a month of winter weather left, recent fires have raised concerns regarding the safety of space heaters.

Last week, a house on North Main Street caught fire twice in 24 hours and was destroyed by the second blaze. Both fires were caused by space heaters.

Although the fires were caused by the same thing, one was not the result of the other, said Fire Investigator Elmer Greene.

Around 7 p.m. Thursday, firefighters were called to Wendy Halverson’s home. One of her electric space heaters had tipped over and caught a rug on fire. She wasn’t home at the time.

A neighbor and friend of Halverson’s, Jimmye Stevenson, was able to pull the rug and space heater out of the house before firefighters arrived, which helped minimize the damage. Firefighters made sure the blaze was out, ventilated the smoke and left the house.

The next morning, firefighters were called back to the same house. When they arrived at the about 10:15 a.m. Friday, the blaze was fully involved.

While Halverson was away at work, a different electric space heater had caught a nearby dog bed on fire.

Thick gray smoke billowed out every window as firefighters tore through the roof.

Breaking through the roof presented the firefighters with their biggest challenge, Hulsey said.

“The house had wood shingles – the old kind,” Hulsey said. “Then on top of those were asphalt shingles and then there was a metal roof on top of those. They were all just kind of sandwiched in there.”

The 12 firefighters extinguished the flames after about 30 minutes, but didn’t leave until about three hours later. They kept busy by putting out smoldering areas that could reignite a fire.

The house was destroyed.

Halverson owned four space heaters, said Battalion Chief Larry Hulsey.

“That was how she was heating her house,” he said.

Space heater fires are nothing new for Hulsey, he said. He sees them all the time.

Hulsey said space heaters are one of the leading cause of house fires and can be avoided.

It is important to remember to check to make sure the heater is Underwriters Laboratory approved, it is in good working condition and most important, he said, is to allow for at least three feet of clearance around the heater.

He also stressed the importance of using appropriate heating devices. Last week, a house caught on fire because someone was using a propane fish cooker to heat his house, Hulsey said.

Source:
KY New Era, February 11, 2008
By Julia Hunter, New Era Staff Writer