On Friday evening, February 6, 2015 at 5:27pm the Brattleboro Fire Department responded to a reported kerosene heater explosion at 27 Brattle St. The 2nd floor front apartment, in the four unit apartment building, received extensive heat and smoke damage in the 2 alarm fire. Two occupants of the building received injuries, one treated for smoke inhalation, the other for minor burns.
A joint investigation by the Brattleboro Fire and Brattleboro Police Departments over the weekend has determined that the cause of the fire to be accidental. The investigation has revealed that there is a strong possibility that the wrong type of fuel was accidentally used in the heater.
The occupant of the apartment was also alerted to the fire by a smoke detector that was activated.
In the aftermath of this fire the Brattleboro Fire Department would like to remind all residents of the following;
Ensure that you have working smoke and carbon monoxide detectors in your home. They provide early warning and save lives.
Exercise extreme caution anytime you are using portable heaters of any type. Any fuel burning heaters should be properly vented.
Please feel free to contact the Brattleboro Fire Department with any questions at 802-254-4831.
Contact: Michael Bucossi, Fire Chief
I thought that most states
I thought that most states had outlawed kerosine heaters. Guess Vermont isn’t one of them. Lucky that this wasn’t a much worse ending. All space heaters scare me – they need to be used very cautiously.