By Alison James

alison.james@fct.wpengine.com

An electric wall heater caused severe fire damage in a local apartment last week, and the Russellville Fire Department is urging the public to take action to be sure this type of fire doesn’t happen again.

“They can come on automatically,” explained Fire Chief Joe Mansell of these old electric heaters. “Have them disconnected – have an electrician come out and disconnect. We’ve had many fires over my career from those.”

The fire was in Apartment 3 of a four-apartment unit, 819 Marion St. East, Fire Marshal Justin Green said.

“These old wall heaters that are built into the wall don’t have an on and off switch – just a thermostat,” said Green, who added that this is the third of this type of fire he has seen in the one year since he became fire marshal. “They are very unsafe.”

Both stations, as well as off-duty and volunteer firefighters, responded to the morning fire, which was reported by a neighbor. Mansell said thankfully the apartment was empty at the time, with both parents at work and their child with a babysitter.

“If you’d put this fire at 2 or 3 o’clock this morning, it could have been a different scenario,” Mansell said.

The residence did not have a smoke detector.

By working efficiently, Mansell said responders were able to put a quick stop to the fire and confine it to the bathroom. The rest of the apartment sustained only minor smoke damage.

“They did an excellent job,” said Mansell.

Green encouraged anyone with this type of old heater to give his office a call so he can come out and take a look at it. Mansell encouraged anyone without a smoke detector in the home to likewise call the local fire department.

Russellville fire stations can be reached at 256-332-8711 and 256-332-8761.