Officials warn of added heating-fire risk
Chief urges ‘a little maintenance’ before cranking up temperature in cold months
Schwacki Kline and her 7-yearold son were cold.
It was the first day this season that the temperature dropped below freezing, so the mother turned on the heater in her northwest Houston apartment. It sparked a fire, which woke her son, causing him to dash downstairs, emerging from a cloud of smoke.
“My child was running downstairs, and I could hardly see upstairs,” Kline said of the Nov. 14 fire. “We got outside and the fireman said that if you had not called me immediately, this apartment would be destroyed.”
The blaze that damaged her home was one of the first home heating fires in the Houston area this cold snap, public safety officials said, but it will be far from the last. Since Nov. 11, the Houston Fire Department responded to at least four electrical fires that were related to heating units, said Alicia Whitehead-Breaux of the fire department’s public affairs division.
On average, HFD records about 100 space heater-related fires per year, Whitehead-Breaux said.
Susan McKelvey, communications manager of the National
Fire Protection Association, said it’s important that residents know the proper safety techniques of operating heaters, especially with the colder months still ahead. Fires caused by heat sources such as central heating systems, water heaters and fireplaces most often happen in the months of December, January and February, she said.
“Across the board, it’s so important to have awareness of where fire hazards exist,” she said.
Rachel Moreno, spokeswoman of the Harris County Fire Marshal’s Office, said all heaters should be on a solid, flat surface and should preferably have a mechanism that automatically shuts the device off if it tips over.
Heaters also shouldn’t be plugged into extension cords, Moreno said, and they shouldn’t be placed near anything flammable.
“Probably the most important thing with heaters is to make sure there’s nothing combustible within 3 feet,” she said.
District Chief Robert Branch, who was on the scene of Kline’s fire on Pinemont and Hollister, reminded residents to check heaters for any issues before turning them on, especially if they haven't been used in a while.
“We always forget about stuff like that,” he said. “Especially the first time you start your heater, you’re going to get that little smell, maybe a little puff of smoke … But sure, before you do it, it’s a good idea to do a little maintenance.”
That means getting the heaters properly cleaned and inspected by a professional, McKelvey said. Space heaters also shouldn’t remain on while you’re sleeping, she said.
In Sugar Land, a faulty heater was cited as the possible culprit of a fire that displaced 25 residents from a group of townhomes late Nov. 13, authorities said.
The blaze started around 11:45 p.m. at a building of eight townhomes in the 2600 block of Grants Lake Boulevard. A spokesman for the Sugar Land Fire Department said the fire caused "extensive damage" and fully engulfed the building.
No injuries were reported, and the residents who were displaced have all found alternate places to stay, the spokesman added.
Just a few days later, on Nov. 16, a space heater fire stripped a home in the East Little York area to its foundation. An elderly home owner left the single story, woodframed house safely and was later taken to the hospital for observation, his son told the Chronicle.
Meanwhile, Kline and her son have moved to a different apartment. Her son is afraid to sleep alone, she said, and Kline doesn’t want use her heater until it’s inspected.
So even in their new apartment, Kline and her son are still cold.
“I won’t even turn on the heat,” she said. “I got blankets.”