"That's where we figured the fire started, right around that space heater next to the couch."

Lafayette fire department spokesman Alton Trahan says that space heater was in the front of the house where five children were sleeping.

"The fire was pretty much traveling in the front part of the house, they weren't able to escape out of that area."

Trahan says the eldest child, a girl around 11 years old, woke-up, smelled smoke and alerted her father. Luckily, all nine people were able to get safely out of the house through the back door.

"It was fortunate that the kid actually woke up at the smell of the smoke because the way they were all situated in the room, they were able to exit out and fortunately the back door was unblocked."

Trahan says a space heater is definitely a hazard when used incorrectly. It should never be used while sleeping.

"What happens if you're sleeping with it, blankets over you, if you drape the blanket over you it could ignite. The best thing is to use it when everybody is up, when everyone falls asleep, unplug it, turn it off, so you don't have any situation like happened early this morning."


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