December 9, 2005 There are 13 deaths from heat-related fires
last year. Those are deaths caused by home heaters. Fire and
Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine is trying to get that
number down. He tours cities like Augusta, urging residents to
take precautions while heating their homes. In 2004 there were
135 fire-related deaths in Georgia. Of those, 13 were caused by
space heaters. Interim Fire Chief Howard Willis says heating
deaths can be prevented. “A lot of it’s commonsense, a lot of it
is accidental,” Willis said. Fire and Insurance Commissioner
John Oxendine is here in Augusta on his annual heating tour, a
tour he started two years ago, and is helping to bring fire
deaths down. “We started in 2003 and in 2004 we saw
approximately a 50% reduction in heating deaths,” Oxendine said.
Oxendine says when using electric heaters or kerosene heaters,
only use those with the underwriter’s laboratory label. And use
only those with a three-prong plug. And lastly, use common
sense. “We’ve actually had people put sp