Nothing to be very paranoid about kerosene heaters: a good and well maintained one will give many years of reliable service.

The simple ones are just a "stove", with wick, kerosen tank and some cover over the wick to produce that nice glowing red thing .

The more sophisticated ones are are real "heaters", with a good enclosure around the flame, a proper flue, a safety valve,etc- not cheap, but also very reliable and effective.

Re: that remark about "fireplaces"........the one I built at home , some ..hmmm........ almost 20 years back is still going strong , and poor of me if it is not lit on an even a cloudy day (way before the real storm): trouble with wife.
Theheat produced by this thing is much much more pleasant than any other source ( got also a full size air conditioner, just in case.....)

have fun