ECN Forum Forums Photo Discussion Forums Violation Photo Forum DANGER!! Electrical Fire Hazards

Recalled some experiences with electrical related fires that you may find interesting: Number one: Had a fire call to a home as a smoke odor and couldn't find any obvious cause. the wall of the bedroom was warm to the touch and although most of the crew wanted to dismiss it I kept after it until we decided to go into the wall. What we found was a stucco wire that was energized by a fault at the air conditioning unit and it was acting like a heating element and burning into the studs at each point of contact. We shut down the disconnect for the air conditioner which stopped the current and advised the owner to contact a licensed contractor to have the electrical & air conditioning unit checked out. Number two was an exhaust fan in a kitchen that the owner said never did work since they were in the house. The fan switch was found to be in the on position, when we removed the fan shield and a brick fell out. apparently the brick had been on top of the fan blade for as long as the people had been in the home and they never knew why the fan didn't work. Number three was probably the meanest thing I ever did as a fire inspector. I was inspecting the local newspaper and the assist editor was going around with me as I pointed out cheap undersized extension cords that were all over the area. I sensed that he did not understand the reasoning for using quality extension cords for temporary power needs so when I spotted on white cord that was turning dark and melting into a carpet I asked him to reach down and grab that for me. He did, and it stuck to his hand. I felt bad about that, I explained that he could probably report me to the chief for doing that to him, that I could see it was melting down ... but he didn't seem to grasp my understanding of the problem until he latched onto that cord. He never reported me, and he never allowed another light weight extension cord to be used in the building .. I still cringe when I think of him grabbing that extension cord.

ERFERTT

Hey Joe. Been a FF for 14 years, the las 9 have been in an "economically depressed" area.

A few years back we received a report of a house fire. Upon our arrival found a sofa in a living room fully involved, located in front of bank of windows, one of which contained an A/C unit.

During investigation, "V" pattern traced down to behind counch as point of origin. Further investigation showed that A/C cord ended at bottom of V. Found 16 ga extension cord that had been cut/spliced with (10 ga?) A/C cord - "twist'n'tape method".

Interview with tenant confirmed that he had spliced cords to make up shortage to wall outlet.

Had another call for smoke in the house in the middle of a bitter cold spell (-5/5+, -40 WCF). Upon arrival, could smell (wood) burning inside, but no visible smoke, no visible fire. Finally found and extinguished fire in truss space in attic.

Turns out that unknown person(s) had run BX to outside luminaire - condensation due to temperature differential(?) and improper angle to prevent water runback into BX caused intermittent short, causing armor to heat, and slow burning of wood (pyrolosis) to result.

Another fire - called for house fire. It was. Upon arrival east side of house fully engulfed. House destroyed just before Xmas.

Residents admitted using extension cords, AND replacing 15a fuses with 30's because "the little ones kept blowing".

I'll ask around the station and try and dig up some more stories.