Smoky?
by gfretwell - 06/09/23 11:23 AM
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Joined: Dec 2000
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From Rewired
First off I would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year, and would also like to share the following pictures of what I saw Late Saturday night upon returning home.
Sorry for the poor quality but the attached pictures are of whats left of a neighbours wooden garden shed, used for storage of everything ranging from computer equipment, old LP records, photos and the like. Apparently what had happened is the neighbour hung a portable quartz halogen worklight off the ceiling and plugged it into an extension cord that also served some jerry-rigged lights in the yard... Apparently the neighbour forgot to turn off (unplug) the light in the shed, and had turned on (plugged in) the lights for the yard and left them on, all the time the quartz fixture must have been near some combustables and well, you see the result. Flames were seen 20-25 feet above the house, and the heat was so intense it cracked a window on the house about 20 feet from the shed, and melted plastic recycling bins, tarps, furniture in adjoining yards.
I will admit, the PREVIOUS owner of the house had me install a receptacle in the garage, of which this CURRENT owner "plugged the shed into". The circuit is GFI protected and the GFI did trip and cut power off to the shed, probably as soon as the cord melted and way before the fire department started hosing the structure down. Too bad the place was already burning.
Guess it shows that some people lack basic "common sense" to the point they are dangerous to themselves and those around them.
![[Linked Image]](https://www.electrical-contractor.net/forum/el/adamburn.jpg) ![[Linked Image]](https://www.electrical-contractor.net/forum/el/adamburn2.jpg) ![[Linked Image]](https://www.electrical-contractor.net/forum/el/adamburn3.jpg) ![[Linked Image]](https://www.electrical-contractor.net/forum/el/adamburn4.jpg) [This message has been edited by electure (edited 01-01-2007).]
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Joined: Oct 2006
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Yikes! Noone hurt, I hope?
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Joined: Feb 2004
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The fire department here had a PSM about halogen torch lights being hazardous around drapes and such (they use the same lamp as the work lights) You'd think people would realize the amount of heat coming from these things and keep them in the open..... guess not (there's been halogen related fires here local a couple times in the past) ![[Linked Image]](https://www.electrical-contractor.net/ubb/frown.gif)
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Joined: Jun 2005
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I like to give my customers a brief description of how a GFCI works, why using the proper wattage lightbulb in a light fixture is important (heat), why to keep proper clearance in front a panel, and the importance of updating incadescent lamps in clothes closets to a more safer fluorescent light, whenever the opportunity presents itself. Some of them really could careless, and others like that I recognize a hazardous condition and tell 'em so. If the HO here had used 40-50 watt fluorescent lamps instead of the halogen (probably 500 watts), the shed would still standing. It's a shame when electrical fires occur because most of them could have been avoided.
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Joined: Nov 2000
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It's a shame when electrical fires occur because most of them could have been avoided. This was not a fire of electrial origin in my opinion. Don
Don(resqcapt19)
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What's wrong with using standard incandescents or compact fluorescent bulbs when lighting up a place like that? Why would anyone use a halogen lamp in a confined space when those things are fire-breathers? Luckily nobody got killed.
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Joined: Sep 2002
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That fire,IMO was just being careless there has been more then one fire started w/ halogen lights, read one story where someone had tossed a towel on top of a torchere to dry.
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Joined: Jan 2006
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Well no one was hurt in this mess thank God but just to let you all know, the owner of " whats left" is not the " brightest lamp in the chandelier" so to speak. I have warned him MANY MANY times what I have seen him do electrically IS a fire hazard.. The previous owner and I pulled out many fire hazards around that house, and this new owner is putting them back in!
Resqcapt19: I kind of had this thought as well.. Do you think the fire is kind of " suspicious" looking????
A.D
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Joined: May 2003
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Same reasoning for lights in closets being covered or flouresent.
Mark Heller
"Well - I oughta....." -Jackie Gleason
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Hey, put a sock in it! - this is ECN not a gossip column! First you imply your neighbor is stupid, then you accuse him of being a possible arsonist, plus you identify the actual neighborhood with some fine photographs. I hope you've got a good lawyer.
Alan
Wood work but can't!
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