ANDERSON – A fire in the 2200 block of Main Street Thursday night was likely caused by an unattended portable heater, according to Anderson Fire Department Battalion Chief Jerry Quire.

Quire warned residents that using portable heaters is safe, as long as they are away from combustible materials and are watched.

“This was avoidable,” Quire said. “If he would have been here, he could have caught it.”

Firefighters received a few calls from neighbors at about 8:30 p.m. that flames were shooting from the back of the house at 2216 Main Street. Quire said the resident ­— whose name he did not have at the time — only used that area of the home to live in. Since the utilities were not working in the home, the man had been using a small wooden stove and space heater.

The fire was put out by 9:30 p.m. Quire said that while the preliminary ruling was the fire was caused by the heater, an investigation would deliver the final verdict.

­— The Herald Bulletin