Flip the switch

Portable heaters are involved in about 1,700 fires that cause 80 deaths per year, says the federal Consumer Product Safety Commission. This year, that total will include the 17 lives lost in a five-alarm conflagration that raged in Fordham Heights last Sunday, just as 2007’s total included 10 lives lost in a fire caused by a frayed space-heater cord.

Some of that agonizing loss and heartache will likely be prevented if Bronx Rep. Ritchie Torres gets his way. Pray he does.

In the wake of the blaze, Torres, a bright light freshman in the New York congressional delegation, is assembling a local-federal task force to aid the victims, determine what went wrong and take all possible steps to ensure no similar horror is repeated. His first concrete proposals, soon to be put in legislative language, make eminent sense on their face: mandate automatic shutoff features on space heaters, and require self-closing apartment doors — key to stopping the spread of fire and smoke — in all housing developments that receive federal funding. Torres’ task force is also looking into installing heat sensors in housing developments to ensure that residents aren’t forced to resort to space heaters when the mercury drops.

Space heaters are far safer than they used to be; newer models feature automatic shut-off when they reach a desired temperature, and many cleverly turn themselves off when they tip over. But the devices still cause hazards, not only when placed near flammable materials, but when left on overnight or plugged into a power strip that can become overloaded.

Public education is a big part of the answer here, as it is with ensuring fire-safety doors are functioning properly. The FDNY has done its share over the years but must do more.

But when and where clear, easy-enough-to-implement mandates on manufacturers can greatly reduce risk — as seat belts, air bags and anti-lock brakes do on cars — the feds should turn up the heat and demand safer products.