Block heaters have been the cause of a number of vehicle-related fires in Manitoba since December. In the past two months, Manitoba Public Insurance says they received 81 reports of vehicle-related fires and almost half of them were directly correlated to block heaters. 

Upon their investigation, MPI discovered a number of these fires resulted from the use of interior car warmers and household interior heaters to warm vehicles in outdoor garages.

“Block heaters are intended to be used in cold climates to warm an engine prior to starting the vehicle,” says Paul Brisson, MPI Fire Investigator. “As a general rule, an engine block heater should be used when the temperature drops below -15 and greater. It’s strongly discouraged to plug in a vehicle which is parked in an attached garage.”

Typically, over this two-month stretch, the number of vehicle-related fires would be half the amount that have taken place this year. 

”Many of these fires could have been prevented. The use of an interior electric heater in an outdoor winter setting is extremely dangerous,” explains Brisson. “The issue is that moisture and overheating of the heater elements and internal components, which are not intended to be running continuously for extended periods of time especially outdoors in extreme cold, can cause the heater or power supply to fail.”

MPI adds interior home heaters used with an extension cord draws an excessive amount of power and could overload a circuit.

They give three steps to prevent these types of instances:

  • Store power cords safely and make sure they are clean and free of cuts or defects.
  • Put block heater supply cords back into the front grill or bumper area of the vehicle.
  • Do not drive over your extension cord.

MPI also recommends plugging your vehicle into a GFCI (Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter) outlet rather than a regular electrical outlet. For more information contact visit the MPI website.