
Louisiana House Fire Linked to Use of a Space Heater
Louisiana firefighters were called out to a house fire at around 8 o'clock Wednesday morning, and the fire was indirectly the result of the homeowner using a space heater.
In the twist with this fire case, a resident was doing what fire safety experts asked people to do; they plugged the space heater right into the wall outlet.
Public Information Officer and Investigator Alton Trahan says when firefighters from the Lafayette Fire Department arrived on the scene of the fire in the 200 block of Irma Drive they could see heavy smoke venting from the home. They got right down to business. They were able to help the family who were inside the house at the time to a safe place. Then firefighters began to attack the fire.
As firefighters went into the home, they discovered the fire had started in a wall in the bathroom. The fire climbed up the structure inside of the wall and ultimately into the attic. They were able to quickly put the fire out, which reduced the amount of damage to the family's home.
Since several deaths in the state have been attributed to space heaters, firefighting officials across Louisiana have been reminding users of the devices to plug them directly into the wall and to not use an extension cord. This family plugged the heater into a wall socket, but unfortunately, the socket ended up becoming overloaded by it.
None of the people in the home were injured due to the fire. Trahan says the fire has been ruled as accidental.
Another item to add to the list of things not to do in order to reduce the risk of fire in your home is to make sure that wall outlets do not become overloaded by appliances or other items.
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