Newton Abbot Fire Station posted a warning on social media following a fire they attended in the Buckland area of Newton Abbot yesterday (21st January)
Two crews from Newton Abbot attended the incident at a property in Jellicoe Road just before 8pm.
Newton Abbot Fire Station posted on Facebook:
“The fire turned out to be a plug in a wall socket which had caught fire due to being overloaded. The plug fed an extension lead which had to electric heaters working from it.
“Luckily the plug on fire was noticed by a child in the room who then warned the rest of her family. They did exactly the right thing by turning off the heaters…, as it was safe to do so, and then exited the house to wait for our arrival.
“The owner of the property kindly allowed us to take a picture of the plug to enable us to pass on this safety
message.
“Faulty electrics, appliances, wiring and overloaded sockets cause around 7,000 house fires across the country every year. Don’t overloaded sockets – plugging too many electrical appliances into one socket can lead to overheating. Remember – one plug per socket. An extension lead or adaptor will have a limit to how many amps it can take, so be careful not to overload them to reduce the risk of fire. Appliances use different amounts of power – a television may use a 3amp plug and a vacuum cleaner a 5amp plug for example,”
Information on electrical safety can be found here
