Fire blamed on pet fish

[Elmware2000]

Never thought this would ever happen. This is why cords should be looped and aquariums shouldn't be placed too close to electrical outlets.

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_1835662.html

Fire blamed on pet fish

A pet fish has been blamed for a house fire which nearly cost a woman and her two daughters their lives.

Kipper, an eight-inch catfish, is thought to have triggered the blaze when it fought with a rival in their tank.

Water splashed out of the aquarium and landed on an electric plug below, reports The Sun.

It sent a power surge up the tank's light cable which burnt the plastic lid which melted and dripped onto a leather sofa which burst into flames.

The blaze soon engulfed the lounge as Sharron Killahena, 25, and kids Nicole, six, and Kerry, two, slept upstairs in the house in Poole, Dorset.

Luckily a smoke alarm woke landlord Simon Justice, 25, in a different room, who woke the family in time to escape.

Their home was wrecked and their six fish died but Sharron said: "At least we are here to tell the tale."

 

[nitrous]

ya on mine, my cords are logn enough that the water would hit the ground before going into my power strip which has a grounds. but i do have the loops.

 

[Menagerie]

Moved to the lounge to share with everyone.

 

[lyquidphyre]

Ever since my house caught on fire about 4 years ago, Im super paranoid about things like that.

Thats almost like the fire started by a cat peeing on a fax machine!

 

[shaunakadub]

Tip for anyone with the problem I had:

My tank setup wasn't really located near an electrical outlet, and I wasn't about to use an extension cord (not only ugly, but can cause problems in the long run).

Simple Fix: Take a thin cloth, wrap it around all of the cords in one section as tightly as possible, then tie even tighter with some small bread twistys (the things that keep your bread fresh =p )

 

[brant]

Tip for anyone with the problem I had:

My tank setup wasn't really located near an electrical outlet, and I wasn't about to use an extension cord (not only ugly, but can cause problems in the long run).

Simple Fix: Take a thin cloth, wrap it around all of the cords in one section as tightly as possible, then tie even tighter with some small bread twistys (the things that keep your bread fresh =p )

Thats considerd cabling and depending on how much power you draw can cause heat problems. Electrical cords should never be cabled thats why if you look at the wires run in your house they are loose and not in tight bunches so as to allow air to get in between them so the can disapate heat generated by electrical current flowing through the wires. This practice of cableing (three or more electrical wires in a tight bunch) is against code in new construction.
As for a simple fix the easiest and safest way (if your plugs have a ground prong) is to install a G.F.C.I. (Ground Fault Circut Interupter) some high end power strips come with these already equiped.

 

[shaunakadub]

Tip for anyone with the problem I had:

My tank setup wasn't really located near an electrical outlet, and I wasn't about to use an extension cord (not only ugly, but can cause problems in the long run).

Simple Fix: Take a thin cloth, wrap it around all of the cords in one section as tightly as possible, then tie even tighter with some small bread twistys (the things that keep your bread fresh =p )

Thats considerd cabling and depending on how much power you draw can cause heat problems. Electrical cords should never be cabled thats why if you look at the wires run in your house they are loose and not in tight bunches so as to allow air to get in between them so the can disapate heat generated by electrical current flowing through the wires. This practice of cableing (three or more electrical wires in a tight bunch) is against code in new construction.
As for a simple fix the easiest and safest way (if your plugs have a ground prong) is to install a G.F.C.I. (Ground Fault Circut Interupter) some high end power strips come with these already equiped.

Bleh, I knew an electrical guru would prove me wrong =p

I know about cabling, but I have a very small watt setup. The three wires combined disapate almost no heat.

Cabling mostly comes into play when building a house (hence why it is against new house code). Its more dangerous to cable outlet wires behind drywall then it is 3 wires with a combined wattage of 25w.

 

[brant]

Then you are fine I was just stating for those who mite get the idea for there 2-3 300 watt heaters and chiller 2 or 3 power heads air pump 460 watt lights and so on. No offense or badgering ment just a statment as to the possibility of trouble.

 

[shaunakadub]

Then you are fine I was just stating for those who mite get the idea for there 2-3 300 watt heaters and chiller 2 or 3 power heads air pump 460 watt lights and so on. No offense or badgering ment just a statment as to the possibility of trouble.

No offense taken =p

I was actually glad you chimed in with that, because at the time of my original post, I only considered what wires "I" have to run, and didn't take into thought that other people with larger tanks/more accesories could run into a problem.

 

[Brenden]

One word. GFI. Wait that is not a word. :?