A fire that destroyed a home and displaced a family of three Wednesday night is being blamed on a portable space heater.

At 7:45 p.m., Dayton fire crews were dispatched to 19 N. McGee St. and encountered heavy flames coming from the front of the two-story wood frame home.

Two adults and a young female escaped without injury, one person was taken to a hospital for what appeared to be anxiety, and a firefighter suffered a minor ankle injury, District Fire Chief Vincent Wiley told News Center 7.

Damage to the structure and contents was estimated in excess of $20,000, Wiley said.

Wiley said the fire appears to have started by a portable space heater that was attached to an extension cord. He said extension cords should not be used with space heaters because they can overheat.

“The lesson here is if you have to use a portable space heater, don’t use an extension cord in conjunction with it. And you always have to be awake and be by it,” he said.