LIMA, OH (WLIO) - With the temperatures dipping into the teens in the next few days, many people will be trying to keep warm. And that usually includes portable space heaters.
Keep heaters in plain sight with nothing around them.
Lima Fire Department officials say to make sure your heater has a tip-over shut-off safety mechanism and that it has been approved by the Underwriters Laboratory. They also say to keep heaters in plain sight with nothing around them.
"A lot of times what people like to do when they are using space heaters is have them in multiple rooms plugged up. But then you don't have it in your visibility, so you don't know what's going on if there's an emergency. Only use them in the room that you're in and unplug them or turn them off when you leave the room," suggested Warren Pughsley, inspector for the Lima Fire Department.
Make sure your heater has a tip-over shut-off safety mechanism and that it has been approved by the Underwriters Laboratory.
Pughsley says if a fire does occur, dial 9-1-1 regardless of its size so firefighters are on the way in case the fire gets out of control.
