Appliance Fires

"If you see anyone acting suspiciously near or on a sub-station, please call the police."-alert issued in UK

The Guardian reports an unusual story in the town of Bolton, UK. Thieves broke into an electrical substation and stole £20 worth of copper switching parts to sell on the black market. This caused a power surge as the voltage jumped from 230 to 400V which started fires in 71 homes as TVs, microwaves, washing machines, and other appliances burst into flames. Several hundred houses had blown fuses.

"Then suddenly I heard a 'poof' noise. At first I thought, 'What was that?', and sat down in my chair. Then I saw smoke coming out of my digibox [TV] and I jumped up quick and turned off the box at the plug. Shortly afterwards my husband was in the kitchen, and he saw a huge flame come out of the microwave. It frightened him to death. It all shook me up. You don't expect to see smoke coming out of your television."

Sadly the response from the power Utility did not impress me. They issued a warning that the thieves were endangering their own lives as well as those of others – and face the threat of prosecution. "Threat" of prosecution - that will surely discourage copycat thieves. What ever happened to, we will track you down and you will pay for your crime? Why are the authorities being so polite? "Please don't steal this, you might hurt yourself." This is a crime against society and needs to be taken very seriously.

Bottom Line

There is a reason that homes have a circuit breaker box. An additional surge protector may protect your TV but you're unlikely to have every appliance on a surge protector. And if something does go up in smoke, you want a working fire alarm to give you warning ASAP. And of course you have a fire extinguisher -right?