COLUMBIA-- As temperatures drop, more Midlands residents are relying on space heaters to stay warm. Those devices cause thousands of fires each year.

A Columbia man is homeless this morning, after a kerosene heater ignited a fire in his Ames Manor Apartment. That's located off Ames Road.

Fire investigators say the heater was too close to a couch, and caught fire. The man inside woke up to the smoke detector.

He couldn't get out the front door so he had to jump out of a second floor window. He was taken to a hospital with minor injuries.

Columbia Deputy Fire Chief Aubrey Jenkins says the fire was contained to that one apartment. It caused around $45,000 in damages.

Here are some tips to safety use space heaters:

- Use heaters that have been certified by a national lab

- Keep children and pets away

- Turn them off when you leave or go to bed