To keep your residents safe this unusually cold winter, it's a good idea to share with them a few safety guidelines for using space heaters. According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, space heaters account for one-third (32 percent) of home-heating fires and three-fourths (73 percent) of home-heating fire deaths.

Include these tips from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission in your site’s newsletter, in a resident memo, and on common area bulletin boards:

• Purchase a heater with the seal of a qualified testing laboratory.
• Make sure your heater has an automatic shut-off to turn the heater off if it tips over.
• Make sure that the heater is placed on a level, hard, and nonflammable surface (such as ceramic tile floor), not on rugs or carpets or near bedding or drapes.
• Keep the heater at least three feet from bedding, drapes, furniture, and other flammable materials.
• Keep children and pets away from space heaters.
• To reduce the risk of fire, never leave a space heater on when you go to sleep or place a space heater close to any sleeping person.
• Never leave a space heater unattended; turn it off if you leave the area.
• Never use extension cords to power electric heaters.