Heat tape is being blamed for a house fire in Arbor Vitae.
Arbor Vitae Fire and Rescue responded to a fire on Sly Drive just around 10:45 p.m. Tuesday.
It was reported that smoke was coming from the refrigerator in the home.
The first firefighters on scene didn’t find anything wrong with the refrigerator, but a deputy saw smoke coming from under the home.
Firefighters were able to remove skirting material to find a fire under the home.
They were able to put it out and remove any burning insulation.
The fire did not make it into the home.
The fire department believes the cause of the fire was in or near an outlet powering a heat tape device.
There are about 1,000 fires annually because of heat tape, according to the Consumer Products Safety Commission.
The fire department encourages anyway who uses heat tape in their homes to have it inspected at least annually, preferably bi-annually.
Damage from this fire is estimated to be $5,000. No one was injured.
