Be careful with fireplaces, space heaters

TUCSON, AZ (Tucson News Now) - For many people in Tucson and southern Arizona, the cold has them turning on heaters and starting up fireplaces for the first time.

But if you are not careful and prepared, a nice night next to the fireplace could turn into a house fire.

The National Fire Protection Association says heating equipment caused more than 53,000 house fires across the U.S. in 2011. From 2007 to 2011, 38 percent of all home fires started in a fireplace.

Space heaters ranked the second highest as the leading cause of home fires in the same time period.