The NFPA states that in the most recent year when data was available, home heating fires killed roughly 300 people in the United States.  This is by far a lower number than when the NFPA started collecting such data in 1980. In contrast, the highest number of home-heating deaths over a 20-year span was 979 in 1985."

"People are heeding our safety messages and the fire problem continues to decline," said John R. Hall, Jr., Ph.D., of NFPA's fire analysis and research division. "But data from the United Kingdom and Canada, where the death rates are lower, show that we can do better. If everyone followed NFPA's codes, standards, and safety recommendations, we could prevent most home-heating fire deaths."

"In the United Kingdom and Canada, where the heating season is longer, the number of home-heating fire deaths, relative to population, is considerably lower than in the United States. This is particularly noteworthy for Canada, a country like the United States in many ways and with a similar overall fire death rate".

"Room gas heaters, portable kerosene heaters and portable electric heaters have the greatest risk of death. Wood stoves or fireplaces with inserts have the greatest risk of property damage from fire. Although kerosene heaters are illegal in some states, the data do not show that they are clearly or consistently more dangerous than other kinds of space heaters"

More words of advice:

When buying a new unit, make sure that a qualified technician installs the unit or checks that the unit has been installed properly. For wood or coal stoves or fireplaces, have a professional inspect the chimney, chimney connector and other related equipment every year.  Have them cleaned as often as the inspections indicate.

For more info, visit (or download) this link from the USFA.