A family friend of mine had a horrific experience with a house fire that was due to improper use of a space heater. One year around Christmas, my parents took me and my sister over to our friends house for dinner. Their house did not have central heating like ours and we were in awe over the way the heated their home. In addition to the wood burning fireplace, there were several electric space heaters situated throughout the house. I remember finding the one in the bathroom to be extremely hot. I went to the bathroom and accidently bumped into it and it singged the leather on my boot! I didn’t tell my mom because I knew she would be upset that I had already ruined my winter boots. We got a call the next day that the space heater in their bathroom had caused a house fire in the middle of the night. Luckily, everyone was able to get out and there were no injuries. However, the house was completely gone. It was a very sad Christmas for the family. It was nice that there were nice people in the community to help them get clothes and other necessities. It is very important to use caution when using space heaters during the winter. Keeping the space heaters away from curtains, blankets and any other fabric is very important. If you leave the house, do not leave the heaters on, or plugged in. Electrical fires are very common in the south.