As the bone-chilling cold of winter grips the nation, many Americans take to alternative-heating sources to keep their homes warm and save on expensive heating bills—but families using these heating sources should proceed with caution.
According to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), home space heaters are involved in 19,300 fires annually. Half of all home-heating fires occur during the cold winter months of December, January and February, and space heaters account for one-third (32 percent) of home heating fires and four out of five (80 percent) home-heating fire deaths annually.
These types of fires are not only common, but can be extremely costly. Over the past five years (2008-2012), Nationwide Insurance says it paid more than $48 million in claims related to space heaters, with the average claim topping more than $40,000.
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