Space heater blamed for Milford house fire
Electric overload caused fire
Space heater on all night: fire inspector
By Daymond Steer and Kathy Cleveland
Published: Friday, Nov. 30, 2007
Michael Cleveland photos
The house on Barry Court in Wilton, shortly after last week’s fire was knocked down.
WILTON An overloaded electrical circuit caused the fire that severely damaged an apartment building last week and left three families temporarily homeless.
Firefighters from Milford, Lyndeborough and Wilton battled the blaze that ripped through the apartment building on Barry Court, off of Burns Hill Road, on Nov. 20. The fire started at about 5 a.m. and nearly all the tenants were home and some of them had to be evacuated.
Christopher Wyman, an investigator with the State Fire Marshal’s Office, said the fire started in the first floor unit where an electrical outlet had a multi-head plug that carried electricity to a lamp, two phone chargers and to an extension cord that carried power to a television, a DVD player, and a space heater.
And the space heater was the tenant’s primary source of heat, said Wyman, and had operated all night.
More at LINK
Wilton Fire Chief Ray Dick said over-reliance on space heaters can be dangerous.
I have a funny feeling we’re going to see more of these (fires) if people don’t pay attention, he said.
….
Caswell, who owns several rental properties, said this was the first time he lost a building to a fire and was not aware there were space heaters in use.
I’m going to have to change the lease agreement to say tenants can’t use the devices, he said.
…..
I think insurance carriers should require my power strip if space heaters are permitted.