Perry Fire Department Prevention Chief shares space heater safety tips after recent fire

"Anything that's combustible. You don't want to leave it up against it and just walk away," said Ephraim Wheeler, Prevention Chief for the Perry Fire Department.

PERRY, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – It’s been colder than normal the last few days, and it’s getting even colder, so you may be inclined to use a space heater to battle the current winter temperatures.

Using said heaters could potentially become dangerous if you are not careful. A recent fire in Perry is bringing safety to the forefront.

We spoke with Ephraim Wheeler, Prevention Chief for the Perry Fire Department, and he has a few tips about space heater safety to prevent fires. He says don’t block the heated flow area and stresses that when you leave the room, turn off the heater and unplug it. Also be aware of product recalls to prevent faulty parts from causing fires.

“You don’t want to hook it up to an extension cord,” he said. “It needs to be UL tested. Also, you don’t want to place it on anything, tables, chairs, it needs to be on the floor. Just paying attention to it. You don’t want to leave a space heater unattended. That’s how it normally happens or you leave it on unattended and it’s too close to anything that will burn up. Couch, wood, furniture, anything that’s combustible. You don’t want to leave it up against it and just walk away. It needs to be three feet away from anything that will burn.”

Wheeler also says if you have kids or animals and use a space heater, get one that has an automatic shutoff in case it tips over.