Those wick-less bowl burners were probably the infamous 'drip-feed' heaters. They were cheap to make and were often used as additional heating appliances, being portable and almost always used unvented in the UK, mainly by poorer folks. In 1956 in Britain, over 2000 house fires were attributed to these beasts. By 1958, the number of fires had doubled to over 4000, and they represented over a third of all domestic fires. In 1960 a Private Members Bill was placed before Parliament, forcing makers to introduce safety features so onerous that it effectively killed them off, thank goodness. The problem was that in quite mild drafts, less than 4mph, the bloody things went off like a bomb, with flames emitted in all directions. That sometimes meant just opening a door! Folks burned to death refuelling them while they were running. Many of the fatalities were young children and babies, and it became illegal to leave kids unattended in a room with one. Even so, the fires spread so rapidly that, in at least one instance, adults in a room were powerless to stop children getting badly burned. The legislation also covered wick-type burners, the main effect being that they were fitted with a tilt device, so that in the event of the stove getting knocked over, it triggered a snuffer to put out the flame. A friend of mine burned his ass by sitting on one in the fifties! Ouch!
Last edited by Alan Belson; 02/05/09 10:46 AM.
