House fires


Received from a friend who is in the insurance property business. It is 
well worth reading. 

This is one of those e-mails that if you don't send it, rest assured 
someone on your list will suffer for not reading it. The original 
message was written by a lady whose brother and wife learned a hard 
lesson this past week. 

Their house burnt down.. nothing left but ashes. They have good 
insurance so the house will be replaced and most of the contents. That is the good news. 


However, they were sick when they found out the cause of the fire. The insurance investigator sifted through the ashes for several hours. He had the cause of the fire traced to the master bathroom. He asked her 
sister-in-law what she had plugged in the bathroom. She listed the normal things....curling iron, blow dryer. 
He kept saying to her, 'No, this would be something that would 
disintegrate at high temperatures'. Then her sister-in-law remembered she had a Glade Plug-In, in the bathroom. 

The investigator had one of those 'Aha' moments. He said that was the cause of the fire. He said he has seen more house fires started with the plug-in type room fresheners than anything else. He said the 
plastic they are made from is THIN. He also said that in every case there was nothing left to prove that it even existed. When the investigator looked in the wall plug, the two prongs left from the plug-in were still in there. 


Her sister-in-law had one of the plug-ins that had a small night light built in it. She said she had noticed that the light would dim and then finally go out. She would walk in to the bathroom a few hours later, and the light would be back on again. The investigator said that the 
unit was getting too hot, and would dim and go out rather than just blow the light bulb. Once it cooled down it would come back on. That is a warning sign 

The investigator said he personally wouldn't have any type of plug in fragrance device anywhere in his house. He has seen too many places that have been burned down due to them. 

PLEASE PASS THIS ON TO ALL THE PEOPLE IN YOUR ADDRESS BOOK. 

NOT ONLY COULD IT SAVE SOMEONE'S HOUSE, BUT IT COULD SAVE SOMEONE'S LIFE 

Signal 33 Residence

1051 Chase Creek Court

On Wednesday February, 13th 2008 Company 20, Company 5, Engine 25, Battalion 4, Battalion 1 and Medic 20 responded to 1051 Chase Creek Court on a reported vehicle fire with extension into the occupied residence. On arrival of Engine 20 found a passenger car with fire in the engine compartment with radiant heat extension to the residence. Engine 20 began to place a 100’ 1.75" hand-line in-service when a small explosion occurred. The explosion caught the attention of Engine 20’s crew; however, the fire did not increase in intensity and no one was injured. Fire was placed under control and units were released with the exception of Company 20. During overhaul a startling discovery was made. See pictures below.

Figure A: Engine 20, Squad 20 Overhauling Auto (Note: Radiant Heat to Vinyl Siding)

Figure B: Front Driver Side Bumper Shock (Note: Notice Impact on Garage Door)

Figure C: Shock Impaled In Garage Door

Figure D: Captain Estes holding Shock w/ Very Painful Looking Bumper Mounts

Just a reminder to all of our crews when responding to emergencies involving passenger vehicles. Complacency KILLS! REMEMBER: We are the # 1 EXPOSURE!!!!

Scott Sanders
Firefighter Driver Engineer
Company 20