Portable Heaters Blamed for Valley City Fire

VALLEY CITY, N.D. (AP) — Portable heaters are being blamed for a Valley City house fire that led to a close call for a mother and two children and injured a firefighter.

Fire Chief Gary Retterath reports two portable heaters were placed too close to a bed in the home's basement, igniting the Jan. 28 blaze.

Linda Schonert and her children escaped the burning house by jumping from a second-floor bedroom window. They suffered scratches on their legs when they hit a porch roof and then fell to the ground.

One firefighter suffered smoke inhalation as he was turning off the natural gas connection to the house.

The home was destroyed.

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