A washing machine that was plugged into an extension lead caused a fire at a Milton Keynes property yesterday (11/5).
A crew from Buckinghamshire Fire & Rescue was called to a house along Pebody Place in Olney just before 9am.
They say that the plug that the washing machine was plugged into had overheated resulting in a fire starting. Firefighters moved the washing machine outside and gave advice to the household in question.
This incident has prompted the local fire authority to share a message of warning to the wider community.
"The more wall sockets you have in your home, the less you will need an extension cable or adapter," said a spokesperson for Buckinghamshire Fire & Rescue.
They continued: "However, many portable electrical items such as lamps and radios are supplied with relatively short cables. Sometimes it is unavoidable not to have to use one."
The spokesperson listed the dangers of using an extension lead, which include:
- A damaged cable, due to leads being walked over, continually bent at the same point or stored badly.
- You can trip or fall over taut, over-stretched cable.
- Leads on power tools frequently become tangled, leading to one of the conductors eventually failing – this could cause danger.
- Overuse of multi-way adapters or adapter blocks, which increases the risk of fire.
Residents have been advised that an extension lead should only be used when it is not possible to reach a wall socket with the equipment cable.
When the use of an extension cable is unavoidable, residents are advised to follow these suggestions by the fire authority:
- Only use an extension lead that was bought ready-assembled.
- Buckinghamshire Fire & Rescue recommends that no extension lead be more than 15 metres long.
- Only use extension leads fitted with suitably insulated connectors and plugs.
- Never join two lengths of flexible cable by twisting the bare ends of wires together.
- Position an extension lead carefully to prevent any risk of damage.
- If the cable has to cross a pathway, cover it with a rubber protector strip.
- Always check that leads, plugs and sockets are undamaged.
- Always check that the extension lead plug contains the correctly rated fuse for the equipment being used.
- If using a cable drum extension lead, it should be completely unwound to avoid overheating.
- For general use, two-core extension leads should not be used.
