Electric Toothbrush blamed for house fire

Praise for house fire helpers

By Lloyd Vaughan

Comment

A TREBOROUGH couple has praised the reaction of their local community following a fire which tore through their kitchen last week.

Pete and Sue Moncrieff-Jury returned home on Wednesday afternoon to see fire crews tackling the blaze - caused by an electric toothbrush left on charge.

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fire at ostrich farm caused by heat lamp, charger

By SARAH BEDFORD and JARED MORGAN - The Southland Times

A huge blaze that razed four buildings and caused an estimated $150,000 damage at an ostrich farm on Wednesday night had the potential to be much worse.

The fire at Five Rivers Farm, near Lumsden started inside a boat kept in a storage shed, which along with two other sheds and an office were destroyed by the blaze.

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Full story at LINK


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Invercargill fire safety officer Mike Cahill investigated the scene yesterday and said a heat lamp rigged to keep frost at bay in the engine of a boat had sparked the blaze, which spread from the boat into the shed housing it.

The owner of the property had plugged in a battery charger that was still connected to the lamp, he said.

"The heat lamp ignited combustibles in the engine bay of the boat, that then ignited the boat and destroyed the sheds," he said.

"The poor bugger forgot the heat lamp was in there when when he powered up the battery charger."

My power strip would have turned off those 2 devices and sounded an alarm.

Battery chargers suspected in garage fire

Local Man Loses Garage In Fire

POSTED: 10:47 pm EDT August 7, 2007
UPDATED: 11:14 pm EDT August 7, 2007

A local man is out hundreds of thousands of dollars after his garage went up in flames Tuesday.

Firefighters said the blaze was not easy to battle because of what was inside.

The garage was full of antique cars, but now is nothing but charred remains.

Jack Ingram is the owner.

.... Full story at LINK

Ingram said he thinks the fire could have been sparked by battery chargers inside the garage, but firefighters are investigating.

I see a lot of stories about battery chargers causing fires. I'd feel safer knowing my charger was hooked up to a SmokeShutoff power strip.

Fire Destroys Police Chief's Garage -- drill charger suspected

7/10/07
GRAND MEADOW, MN -- A weekend fire destroyed the garage of a local police chief.

Police say around 5:30 Saturday morning, a neighbor saw smoke coming out of a garage that belongs to the Grand Meadow Police Chief, James Richardson.

Grand meadow firefighters responded and put out the fire, but not before it destroyed several valuable items in the garage.

The state fire marshal said the blaze may have started from a cordless drill charger that was plugged in.

Tom Bleifus with the Grand Meadow Fire Department says, "I guess they haven't rules out any arson, but that is kind of what it's being pointed towards right now is electrical."

Chief Richardson was not home when the fire started. The garage is said to be a total loss.

New recall for gateway notebook computers

Computer-maker Gateway has just launched a voluntary recall of around 14,000 lithium ion battery packs that were sold with certain Gateway notebooks. According to the company, these batteries have the potential to be a fire hazard.

The warning has been issued for those battery packs that were shipped as the primary or spare battery pack for the gateway 400VTX and 450ROG series notebooks that were sold from May 2003 to August 2003.

I'd feel safer plugging any laptop, any battery charger into a power strip that would cut off if the battery overheats or the charger begins smoking.

Phone charger blamed for house fire

7th June 2007 02:05:46 AM LINK

CASEY residents are being warned to turn off their electrical appliances this winter.

The warning comes after two houses were last week devastated by fires caused by electrical faults.

Detective Senior Constable Ray Ross from Cranbourne CIU said people had to make sure all electrical items were turned off when they were not in use.

Last Thursday, a house in Leckie Street, Cranbourne, was damaged after a fire started in a rear room.

Police believe problems with lighting and bad wiring caused the fire.

The owner of the property noticed smoke coming from the room at about 5pm and the fire was contained to that room.

On Saturday night a house in Pentland Avenue, Narre Warren, was gutted when flames quickly spread through the roof and other rooms about 9.45pm.

Police believe a phone charger caused an electrical fault, starting a fire.

Hand vac charger causes dealership fire

LINK
Schoolboy Saves Two From Fire
22 May, 2007

A 16-year-old schoolboy risked his life warning workmates of a fire before attempting to battle flames that engulfed a Palmerston North car dealership yesterday. Brendan Murray was working as a car groomer at the now-charred Money Mart Direct Car dealership on the corner of Featherston and Carroll streets.

"I walked through the office, into the workshop and saw the fire.

"As soon as I saw it I grabbed the fire extinguisher to try to put it out.

"It was quite big and there was fuel around."

Palmerston North Fire Service station officer Gary Hills said the flames were about 1.8m high as Brendan tried to fight it using the small extinguisher.

He opened the door back to the office and yelled out, alerting his two workmates who fled, before turning back to fight the blaze.

After 10-20 seconds he saw the fire spread to cleaning products and petrol cans in the workshop.

"It just exploded," the Freyberg High School student said.

Witnesses outside reported hearing the explosion and seeing smoke shoot out the windows, followed by a mass of flames.

"I was right by it, I just stepped back.

"I couldn't find my way out.

"It was real smoky."

The workshop was small and the garage door was open.

But black smoke had filled it completely.

Three police officers were a short way up the road and raced to the scene.

"I heard a policeman yelling to 'get out of there' and I followed the voice."

He received superficial burns to his right arm and face.

Afterwards he seemed fine, a burn pad on his arm the only indicator he had been hurt, but the danger had started to sink in.

"In the ambulance, I couldn't stop shaking."

His mum Tanya Murray, who manages the car yard, called him a hero and was backed up by the two sales staff Brendan warned to get out. "I was sitting right by the (workshop). That's why I'm grateful to Brendan for yelling," said Doris Smith, who was still shaking as fire crews doused the few remaining hot spots.

"It just went black with smoke when he opened the door (to yell). I would never have known if that door wasn't opened.

"He definitely saved people."

She was in the far office and watched as the fire shot through the building.

"It took about a minute. It just gutted it so fast."

Fire crews arrived with two engines within six minutes of receiving the 111 call at 2.48pm.

"Basically there were flames coming out of every opening," Mr Hills said.

Still, they managed to put it out within about six minutes.

Brendan played down the hero tag but agrees he got there just in time to warn people.

Fire safety officer Murray Kidd said it appeared the fire was started by an electrical appliance in the workshop, possibly a car grooming vacuum.

"I've got all the bits in front of me at the moment, we're still trying to work out what it is."

He said it was plugged in to a charger at the time.

I'd use the Smoke Shutoff power strip on any of those chargers that get left plugged in 24/7.

Cordless phone blamed for house fire

By DAVE BAKKE

Published Wednesday, January 03, 2007

The fire at Susan Harmony's house on Grandview Street made Police Beat on Nov. 14.

But, as is the case with many Police Beat items, there is more to the story. In fact, this story still is in progress.

Susan had not been gone from home more than a few minutes when the fire started. The cause apparently was a cordless phone that wasn't settled properly in its cradle. The phone arced and started the fire in the kitchen. Though the fire began in the kitchen, damage was widespread throughout the small house.

(continued at link)

Safety urged after golf cart catches fire
Electrical malfunction is likely cause of blaze at Avondale
TIPS TO PREVENT GOLF CART FIRES

Check the water level of your golf cart battery regularly and make sure it's filled. Low water levels can cause the battery to overheat.

Make sure the battery charger is compatible with outlets in your garage.

Have a specialist perform a maintenance check on your cart at least once a year.

When charging a cart in your garage, make sure there is proper ventilation.

Regularly check for frayed wires.

Follow manufacturer recommendations.

Mariecar Mendoza
The Desert Sun
When golfing, make sure to bring a 5-iron, putter - and a fire extinguisher.

In light of a small golf cart fire Sunday at Avondale Golf Club, local firefighters remind avid golfers to regularly maintain their carts.

"They catch on fire now and then with all the batteries and electrical mechanisms in them, so it's not uncommon," North Palm Desert Fire Capt. Brad Smith said.

Riverside County Sheriff's Department received a call regarding a Club Car golf cart, believed to be a 1980 model, that caught on fire at 1:22 p.m. By the time firefighters responded, someone had already put out the fire with a garden hose, Smith said.

In addition to the fire, witnesses said they heard an explosion, which Smith said was probably due to an aerosol can found under the seat of the cart.

Smith said the fire was likely caused by an electrical malfunction because the fire originated around the cart's battery.

The owner of the cart was on the fairway at the time of the fire and was not injured.

Smith estimated the golf cart fire resulted in $2,500 in damages - an unnecessary expense if owners simply maintained their carts, Phillip Stengel of Larsen's Golf Carts said.

"We recommend people have their carts fully serviced once a year just like you'd do with your car," Stengel said.

This is especially important for snowbirds, he said.

"It's so inexpensive and can really save you in the long run," he said, adding that a maintenance check can cost as low as $65.

Smith, who said most golf cart fires happen in owner's garages while the carts are being charged, said prevention can save owners a lot of money in damages in the long run.