SPRINGDALE — A house fire at 1013 Porter Ave. on Tuesday morning was the second in Springdale caused by a space heater in a seven-day span, said Duane Miller, fire marshal.

No one was at home at the time of the fire, but a space heater was left on in a bedroom, Miller said. Couch cushions on the floor got too close to the heater and caught fire. There was also a baby bassinet, which some of the dogs in the house slept in, and a sectional part of a couch close to the heater, he said.

One theory is the dogs knocked the cushions close to the heater, Miller said. The cushions, bassinet and sectional were found within 3 feet of the heater. Another theory is there was an electrical failure in the device, he said.

Erick Alday, 24, owns of the residence but doesn't live there, Miller said. Alday’s mother Josefina Jorge, 51, and stepfather, Jose Jorge, live in the house. Jose Jorge was out of the country Tuesday.

Firefighters rescued three dogs from the house, but a fourth died, said Jim Vaughan, division chief of operations for the Springdale Fire Department.

A bedroom and bathroom were damaged by the fire, but the house’s structural frame is intact, Miller said. The rest of the residence had smoke damage. Miller estimated the damage at $20,000.

The other recent fire in Springdale related to space heaters occurred in a commercial building, where the heaters were under a bathroom sink and too close to flammable objects, Miller said

The majority of heater-related fires occur between December and February, Miller said. Heating devices caused about 54,000 residential fires reported to U.S. fire departments in 2011, according to the National Fire Protection Association website. The fires resulted in 400 deaths, 1,540 injuries and $893 million in property damage.

Miller said he advises people to keep space heaters at least 3 feet away from any combustible material, including carpet, make sure the heater has a stable base, and plug it into an outlet, not an extension cord. People should also test their smoke detectors, and should turn off space heaters when leaving home or going to sleep.

“We understand that people need heat, but they need to be awake and be able to see (the heater),” he said.

The safest way of heating a home is to use a central heating system, Miller said. It should be installed by a professional and checked once a year to make sure it's working correctly.

People who burn wood for heat should have their chimneys inspected once a year, Miller said. Charcoal burning stoves, which are used for cooking outdoors, should never be brought inside for heat, because they produce dangerous levels of carbon monoxide.

Gas or propane stoves and ovens should never be used to heat a home, Miller said. They put off small, nondangerous, amounts of carbon monoxide when used for cooking, but extended periods of use can cause carbon monoxide to build up in the home. Gas and propane stoves and ovens don’t have proper ventilation to be used for heating.

Jamie Pineda, 31, lives across the street from the Porter Avenue residence. She called 911 Tuesday after her niece, Chealsie Warren, 18, saw the flames while scraping ice from her car window.

Warren, said she ran to the front door and knocked to see if anyone was home. No one answered, but she could hear a dog barking and saw smoke coming out around the door.

“I felt bad, but I didn’t open the door,” she said.