Extremely cold temperatures across most of the country means plenty of space heaters are working overtime. Please pay close attention to your space heater’s surroundings. Check out these few tips below for more info.

Facts about home heating fires

• From 2013-2015, an average of 45,900 home heating fires occurred in the United States each year. These fires caused an annual average of approximately 205 deaths, 725 injuries and $506 million in property loss.
• Heating was the second leading cause of home fires after cooking.
• Home heating fires peaked in the early evening hours between 5 and 9 p.m. with the highest peak between 6 and 8 p.m. This four-hour period accounted for 29 percent of all home heating fires.
• Home heating fires peaked in January (21 percent) and declined to the lowest point from June to August.
• Confined fires — fires confined to chimneys, flues or fuel burners — accounted for 75 percent of home heating fires.
• Twenty-nine percent of the nonconfined home heating fires — fires that spread past the object of origin — happened because the heat source (like a space heater or fire place) was too close to things that can burn