The Dangers Of Space Heaters

(SAVANNAH, GA) All the cold temperatures we've been experiencing have some folks across the Coastal Empire and Low Country struggling to stay warm. Many use space heaters...and not always safely. One local business owner found out about the dangers the hard way. The John Davis Florist and Balloon shop on Abercorn street near 40th burned overnight when a propane space heater was left on to warm an upstairs storage area. That's exactly what the savannah fire department warned against today.

John Davis says he was just trying to keep his pipes from bursting when he left that propane space heater running upstairs in his business last night... He's had to deal with water damage before...but right now he's dealing with a lot more. John Davis surveys the mess left behind by an overnight fire at his midtown shop. He's owned the place for 22 years. This is his first fire... and it happened because of what experts say is one of the most common mistakes made by people when using space heaters...leaving it unattended. “We get very complacent and when you get complacent, you get careless, and that's when you have the deadly fires. Every time we see a deadly space heater fire, or almost every time, it's a silly careless mistake, the person should have known better,” says Georgia Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine. John Davis says he knew better, “I knew it before, but you think, it's not going to happen to your space heater. I sat it there, there was nothing around it - I don't know what happened.”

Commissioner Oxendine and Savannah Fire Chief Charles Middleton say never place a space heater on furniture or leave it on when you go to sleep...but Chief Middleton says logic and common sense often go out the window when people are trying to stay warm, “That's really the lesson out of all of this, particularly in the cold weather - we know that people do things that they don't normally do - what we hope that they will do it just think a little bit - you're cold, you're uncomfortable, but if you burn down your house, then you have nowhere to go - so just be smart about it.”

John Davis does want everyone to know that despite Tuesday night's fire, they are open for business...very important to some couples they're doing weddings for this weekend. Some other important information to keep in mind about space heaters... Never buy a used one, always use one with the underwriter's laboratory seal of approval, and make sure it has a three-pronged plug.