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DPS urges following safety rules with space heaters
SIKESTON -- The Sikeston Department of Public Safety Fire Division has already responded to the first home fire of the year caused by a space heater. DPS officials are hoping residents will take some safety measures and make it this year's last.
"We usually have two to three fires a year from someone using a heat source to thaw pipes -- either a small space heater or a small propane torch," said DPS Sgt. Rick Colbert, city fire marshal.
The origin of the Wednesday fire in a home on West Murray Lane was easy to determine, according to Colbert.
"It was a turbo heater for heating a work shed or for outside where there is plenty of ventilation," he said. "Those things really get hot."
The intention was apparently to thaw out water lines but even a smaller space heater wouldn't have been safe there, according to Colbert.
"Any space heater needs to have at least three feet clearance and they had this one pushed up right up against a wall in a crawl space," he said.
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