Some safety tips:

• Equip your home with smoke and carbon monoxide alarms.
• Use space heaters with guards protecting the heating element.
• Look for tested and certified heaters.
• Keep doors open to the rest of the house if you are using an unvented fuel-burning space heater.
• Never leave a space heater on when you go to sleep or leave the area.
• Never use or store flammable liquids around a space heater.
• Place heaters at least three feet from objects such as bedding and drapes.
• Have gas and kerosene space heaters inspected annually.
• Keep your heater on a hard and nonflammable surface, not on rugs or carpets.
• Do not hide cords under rugs or carpets.
• If using an extension cord, use only ones marked #14 or #12 A WG. Light-duty extension cords with high-wattage appliances can start fires.

Source: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission