STE. GENEVIEVE — The Ste Genevieve Fire Department has issued a reminder about space heater safety following an incident Sunday at a St. Mary’s Road in Ste. Genevieve Sunday morning.
“We would like to remind everyone to be space heater safe in this cold weather!” Fire Chief Ken Steiger stated.
He reported the Ste Genevieve Fire Department along with St Mary and Zell Fire Departments were dispatched to a possible structure fire Sunday morning at 7:02 in the 600 block of St Mary’s Road.
“Enroute we were advised that the resident thought they had the fire out but the house was full of smoke,” Chief Steiger said. “The first officer arrived on scene at 7:08 to find the fire was out and there was heavy smoke throughout the structure.”
The department ventilated the building and found a space heater that had caught fire and burned a small area of the carpet it had been placed on. The carpet and heater were removed, and the building was returned to the resident.
Chief Steiger said the resident did (almost) everything right.
“First and most importantly there were working smoke detectors that alerted the resident to the fire.
Even though a space heater was being used on carpet (preferred usage should be hardwood, tile or other non combustible material) there was plenty of clearance from any other combustible items.”
The cause of the fire appeared to be a short in the space heater.
The chief included a graphic showing space heater use safety tips.
