Preventable Fire Stories

A CHEST freezer is thought to have been the cause of a barn blaze on the outskirts of Torquay early yesterday.

A small tractor and some garden furniture was damaged in the blaze at North Whilborough which was first spotted by the owners at 6am.

More than 30,000 litres of water was used to douse the flames, which enveloped the 25 by 10 metres structure at The Firs.

Three pumps attended the scene together with a water bowser which ferried the water from a hydrant nearby.

Two main jets were used to fight the blaze which caused severe damage to the barn-cum-store at the smallholding.

Fire spokesman Dave Crawford said early indications were that the chest freezer in the barn may have developed an electrical fault which started the fire.

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It would be easy enough to mount my power strip on the wall above this freezer.  Might have shut the appliance off and sounded an alarm at the first sign of smoke.

Out of compassion the Kansas National Guard has allowed a soldier from Quenemo to return from Iraq, because his home burned to the ground a week ago.

Donald Dickey has two weeks to help his family pick up the pieces of their lives before he will have to return to the frontlines.

The fire was caused by a freezer with faulty wiring. The Dickey’s have lost everything, but the good news is nobody was hurt.

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The fire broke out at around 8pm last night after a freezer kept under a staircase overheated and caught light.

Flames had spread through rooms on both floors before neighbours spotted the blaze and dialed 999.

Distraught onlookers believed a 17-year-old girl was in the house alone while her parents were on holiday.

Firefighters used breathing apparatus to conduct a search and discovered no-one was home.

The teenager had been out but later returned to discover the gutted house. She was given treatment and had accommodation arranged by Preston Circus Fire Station’s victim support unit.

Fire crews spent three hours fighting the blaze and making the building safe.

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My power strip might have prevented this fire by shutting off the freezer and sounding an alarm at the first sign of smoke.  A freezer under stairs surely there’s some way to mount the power strip above the unit to detect smoke from any malfunction.

Fire has destroyed part of Cowra’s Sarajane furniture for the second time.The latest blaze is expected to disrupt production at the multi million dollar factory with owner Glenn Scott estimating that more than $4 million damage had been caused.

…A passerby raised the alarm about the latest fire at 3 36am on Sunday morning.

Cowra Fire Brigade captain Derek Brown said two Cowra units were quickly on the scene but it wasn’t until just after 5am that they were confident they had contained the fire to the one building at the Sarajane complex.

…Detectives and members of the Police Forensics Group were on the scene yesterday, attempting to determine the cause of the latest fire which is believed to have started at the rear of the factory’s canteen.

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Since the fire started in the canteen area, I’ll blog this fire with a random tag from a canteen appliance right now until they announce the cause. I bet the canteen microwave, coffee maker, cooker, toaster, or refrigerator, etc. is the culprit. I’ll update once I find out. Contact me if you know what insurance company pays this claim — they need to get on the ball and help me make this power strip available.

Fire leaves family homeless
Posted: Tuesday, Dec 18, 2007 - 09:45:57 pm PST
By SEAN GARMIRE
Staff writer

Officials believe blaze was started by malfunctioning freezer; no one was hurt

COEUR d’ALENE — Still wearing their sleeping clothes, Bruce Ellin and his family sat in their van and watched their Harrison home crumple, engulfed in flames.

Ellin’s shoeless feet were bleeding, cut by ice after an 8-foot drop from his bedroom window.

The smoke poured into the dark, early morning. A hope chest and clothes, the heirlooms and Christmas presents, all burned before their eyes.

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The fire in Ellin’s home was sparked by a malfunctioning freezer compressor, said St. Maries Fire Chief Larry Naccarato, which would have been a difficult problem to spot and prevent.

Maybe having the freezer plugged into my power strip would be an extra level of protection, catching that compressor during the smoky phase before it caught something on fire.

By Jeff Small

(KSDK) - Two Kirkwood restaurants are temporarily out of business following an early morning fire.

Hardest hit was Frank ‘n Patty’s restaurant in the 400 block of South Kirkwood road. Firefighters got a call around 4:30 Wednesday morning for an automatic alarm sounding inside the nearby First Watch restaurant.

Minutes later, firefighters went inside and found smoke coming through the roof. About the same time, they discovered the fire at Frank and Patty’s. One of the owners of the hot dog-hamburger business says he got the shocking phone call early this morning.

It was another business partner saying the restaurant was on fire.

They believe it started in or around a freezer in the back of the restaurant.

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