Detroit fire officials warn of space heater hazards following deadly fire

Speaking to Detroit for news there, a man dies in a house fire. Investigators have learned a space heater is the reason. Ingrid Kelly is live tonight with more on how to prevent tragedies like this from happening again. And Ingrid, it is that season again where we have to warn everybody to really be careful with these things. Absolutely, Rob. You know, as temps drop overnight, many people are looking for ways to stay warm without turning on the furnace. Take a look at this video. If you decide to use another source to heat your residence, firefighters want you to be cautious on how you use alternative heating sources like space heaters. Now, if you follow a few extra steps, fire officials say it could save your life. Just simply moving your space heater three feet away from any combustibles is a really small thing that can be done. Making sure that you have a clear zone from your space heater around your pets and your children. Making sure that you directly plug into the outlet as opposed to using an extension cord or power strip. Making sure that the cords on the actual space heater aren't damaged and also turning them off at turning the space heater off at night. Prior to a fire actually occurring maybe you should develop some type of emergency plan. Back out here live you know fire officials understand that many people have already started using their furnace but your furnace can be a silent killer because it can produce carbon monoxide which is a poisonous gas that you can't see or smell. Over the past year or so or 2025 the Detroit Fire Department responded to over 700 calls for carbon monoxide alarms going off and within that there are about 300 instances in which we had to do effective monitoring. So back out here live, if you live in the city of Detroit and you need a smoke alarm, all you have to do is sign up for one. Basically, the fire department, they have a community relations division and those people will come out and they'll install that smoke alarm, basically at no cost to you. So go to fox2detroit.com for more details. Back to you, Rob. Yeah, those smoke alarms are so important. Those carbon monoxide detectors are also so important, whether you have whatever it is kind of producing your heat in that house, when something goes wrong, you can get hit, and that's a silent killer. It is. It's so scary, actually, because a lot of people, you know, they have no idea what's going on, and unfortunately people come into the home and they're found deceased because, again, you know, that is a poisonous gas. You can't see it. You can't taste it, you know, and you can't smell it. And so, obviously, these things like smoke detectors, a CO detector, fire escape plan all of these things help to save your life and obviously if you're going to use a space heater make sure that you follow those safety tips back to you we have so many special times during the cold weather we have think from Thanksgiving to you know to Christmas and everything in between but this is something to keep in mind to make sure this time remains joyous for everybody Ingrid Kelly for us live tonight thanks Ingrid