Space heater blamed for small fire in Dover home
DOVER (WJER) (Jan. 29, 2025) – Firefighters say a small fire at a house in the 300 block of Lloyd Street Tuesday morning is another reminder about the potential risks with space heaters.
The incident happened just before 6:15 a.m. as the residents woke up to a light haze of smoke.
There were no injuries.
Captain Joe Minocchi says damage was mostly just to the wall around an overloaded electrical outlet where a space heater had been plugged into a six-outlet adapter.
He says space heaters need three feet of clearance from any combustibles and should be plugged directly into a wall outlet, not an extension cord or multi-plug adapter.
Minocchi says firefighters were able to use a small water can extinguisher to put the fire out. They used fans to ventilate the room, and there was just slight smoke damage. Firefighters were on scene for just over 40 minutes.
He says the house did have working smoke detectors, but the fire wasn’t big enough to activate them.