Preventable Fire Stories

Circuit breakers and arc fault detectors won’t prevent fires like this.  My SmokeShutoff power strip would cut off power to the cord at the first sign of smoke, preventing a fire like this.

Colonial Heights Fire officials have determined that a house fire Friday in the 400 Block of Lyons Avenue in Colonial Heights was started by a faulty electrical cord to a lamp. Firefighters responded to the blaze before noon and found heavy fire in the front living room. No one was at the house during the time of the incident, officials said. Damage to the house is estimated at $15,000. Officials said there were no smoke detectors installed in the home.

LINK

No injuries reported in fire

Published: October 02, 2008 09:52 pm   Register-Herald Reporter
The Greenbrier resort officials say approximately 70 guests were evacuated from their rooms last Saturday after a lamp cord started a fire on the third floor of the world-famous hotel.

Lynn Swann, public relations director, said no one was injured in the 4:45 a.m. fire and direct damage was limited to just one room in the resort’s main building. However, 11 other rooms were affected by water from sprinklers and fire hoses.

A guest was in the room at the time of the fire, she said.

Most of the damage in the room where the fire started was caused by water and the room is currently unavailable to guests.

“The Greenbrier Fire Brigade responded within two minutes and quickly contained the situation. The cause is believed to have been a lamp cord,” Swann said.

“Approximately 70 guests were evacuated and some were moved to other rooms. more at LINK

Their insurer should get my power strip manufactured.  You’ve got water and smoke damage to the rooms, guests woke up at 4am.   My power strip would have shut off power to that lamp cord at the first sign of smoldering.

Firefighters say a frayed cord on a television set caused a fire that damaged a Macon apartment this morning.

The fire was reported around 11 a.m. at the River Bend Apartments at 3645 Mercer University Drive.

It was quickly doused, but caused some smoke and water damage to the apartment.

Fire Capt. Tom Musselwhite said the fire illustrates the need to take care with appliances. Appliances that spark or flicker when they’re moved probably have faulty cords that should be fixed or replaced, he said.

LINK

Loss of rental income, insurance adjuster: my power strip would have shut off power during the smoldering phase, avoiding this mess.

91, died from smoke inhalation after an electrical fault started a fire in her fridge early on Saturday. The appliance was more than 20 years old.A damaged electrical cord from the wall plug to the fridge motor caused arcing, heating the cord which started the blaze.

more at LINK

Installed behind the fridge, my power strip might have prevented this fire, cutting off power and sounding an alarm at the first sign of smoldering.

Firefighters believe a fire in the 2532 Sterling Drive apartment building in the Arbors Apartments in northeast Vanderburgh County early Sunday began in a stairwell wall of the apartment where Chaffin lived, Dale Naylor, an assistant chief with Knight Township Fire Department, said.

There were no injuries from the blaze, but eight families were displaced, according to the American Red Cross of Southwestern Indiana. State fire investigators assisted with the investigation.

Naylor said it appeared that a wire to an electric heater had become damaged and shorted out, causing the fire.

more at LINK 

I’ll put it in the cord category and heater category.  My power strip would have shut off the appliance at the first sign of smoke, possibly before flames erupted.  Plus my power strip has GFCI which will shut off if there’s a short circuit.

Insurers will be paying a claim for loss of rental income.  They’d have been better off providing my power strip. 

KAUKAUNA — An overheated electrical cord running a fan was identified as the cause of a fire that damaged a home at 807 Desnoyer St. on Friday afternoon.
No one was injured in the fire, according to a fire department report.

The owner of the single-story home reported the fire from his cell phone, the report said.

The department estimated the damage was about $10,000 to $15,000.

LINK

My power strip is capable of shutting off the device at the first sign of smoldering, possibly preventing this fire.

ALISBURY — Investigators said Friday that an overheated electrical cord under a bed likely ignited a dorm room fire in Chester Hall at Salisbury University.

Students evacuated the 220-unit, six-story co-ed freshman dormitory at 7:45 p.m. Thursday and waited about three hours for smoke in the fourth floor to dissipate. No one was injured.

The Maryland State Fire Marshal’s Office ruled the fire, which caused about $10,000 in damage, as accidental. The students living in the room were not identified.

The overheated cord might have set the room’s bean bag chair ablaze, said Ellen Neufeldt, SU’s vice president of Student Affairs. Students on the fourth floor soon smelled smoke and pulled a fire alarm after seeing the fire.

more at LINK

Hang my power strip above the desk to protect against all the electronics these students plug in.

Jan. 22 blaze that killed a 69-year-old Kenner woman was started by the cord of an electrical heating blanket, authorities said.Betty McKno …. smoke inhalation.

The fire’s source was the cord of a heating blanket …
said Donald Carter, supervisor for the state fire marshal. …

 investigators initially couldn’t determine whether the heating blanket was on at the time of the fire, Carter said.

more at LINK 

By Jeremiah Horrigan

also by Paul Brooks

Times Herald-Record

January 26, 2008

STONE RIDGE — A mother and others made desperate attempts to save the woman’s 2-year-old child from a burning trailer Thursday, but were beaten back by fierce flames, authorities said yesterday.

… xxxxx xxxxx was found in her crib in a bedroom where an overloaded extension cord and power strip appear to have caused the fire.

more at LINK

A space heater cord that caught fire Thursday morning was fought by about 110 firefighters in an extra-alarm blaze near the Dan Ryan Expressway that spewed flames to a neighboring home.

No one was hurt, but three people were left homeless, two from the two-story South Side home at 5917 S. Princeton Ave., where the fire started, and one from the neighboring home at 5913 S. Princeton Ave., according to the Chicago Fire Department.

The fire started about 10:10 a.m., when “a space heater cord under [belongings] caught fire,” said Fire Department Cmdr. Will Knight. The fire, which was brought under control by 10:50 a.m., was determined to be accidental.

more at LINK

When it detects smoke, my power strip will stop electricity to any smoldering cord, possibly before flames erupt.