Fire Safety and Space Heaters

This week is fire prevention week around the country, and firefighters want people to know about a very common indoor hazard.

Portable space heaters can very easily start a fire if they’re not used properly.

The Marquette Fire Department recommends using space heaters only as a secondary source of heat.

Using one as your main heat source can cause it to short out.

Marquette Fire Department fire inspector Paul Enrietti also says using an extension cord with a space heater is a bad idea — the heaters draw a lot of power, and they’re designed to draw it through the shorter cord that the heaters come with.

Enrietti says quite a few new models come with a device that automatically shuts the heater down if it’s tipped over, so he says that’s a safety feature worth looking for.

tomorrow, we’ll look at another safety issue that firefighters want residents to be aware of.