Preventable Fire Stories

Email me if you want me to find the other fire I blogged caused by the electrical motor in a bed.  My SmokeShutoff power strip would be important for someone bed-ridden left in a house alone.

December 30, 2008

By BILL BIRD wbird@scn1.com

An electrical malfunction in a motorized bed sparked a small fire Monday night in a nursing and rehabilitation center on Naperville’s north side.

No one was injured in the blaze, which was confined to a bed in a second-floor residential room at the Community Convalescent Center of Naperville, 1136 N. Mill St.

A police and fire emergency radio broadcast report indicated flames were seen about 9:31 p.m. in Room 223 of the 153-bed facility, which two Web sites indicated is also known as Community Nursing and Rehab Center.

Naperville Fire Department Battalion Chief Larry Deguisne said 25 firefighters and several pieces of equipment were initially sent out on the call.

Members of the first crew to arrive at the scene discovered an electrical motor in a bed had overheated and melted the housing surrounding it, Deguisne said. No one was in or on the bed at the time, he said.

more at LINK

Asbestos scare at factory fire

By David Hemming

AN extraction unit on fire at a joinery factory in Highbridge yesterday (Wednesday) raised fears after reports that an asbestos roof was also ablaze.

Two fire engines from Burnham were called to the incident on the side of AM Products in Brue Way on the Walrow Industrial Estate at around 9.09am.

A further call from the factory owner to the fire service stated that the roof was asbestos and was also involved in the fire - however crews later confirmed the hazard did not need a scientific advisor as the roof was not involved.

Four further appliances were also called to the scene with two arriving from Bridgwater and two more from Burnham, an Incident Support Unit from Taunton and a Support Unit from Street also came out.

Fire and rescue spokesman Janet Booth said: “On arrival crews confirmed that an extraction unit was well alight and got to work with three hose reel jets and six breathing apparatus.

“The cause of the fire was an overheated electrical motor blockage of sawdust inside an extraction unit.

from LINK