A Jacksonville man says he had a close call with a space heater catching fire, but he got it out of his home before it caused any damage. For a year now, Darrin Yingling says he's been using a space heater to warm up his apartment, in Jacksonville, but he says he won't anymore after the heater caught fire.
The space heater is now a melted mess. On the last chilly, rainy day he cranked it up. He says minutes later the coils started turning red, and a foot-high flame shot out of the top of it.
"I just grabbed it and threw it outside right before anything happened. It just singed me a little bit," said Yingling.
Yingling says he uses the furnace now to keep his home warm.
Experts say keep space heaters far way from anything that can catch fire and they should not be used if they can not be attended-like when you are asleep.
