At the supper table, I leaned over and whispered urgently to Kate, our host, "Smells like something burning." A bit startled, she got up and went into the kitchen to check. At her abrupt departure, the discussion around the table fell quiet.
Things went back to normal. It was Kate's partner Alex's birthday celebration.
The smell remained and seemed to get more powerful. "Any one else smell something burning?" I asked loudly this time. In the silence that followed, Alex raised his head, sniffed the air, and stated, "I believe you are right."
With some seriousness, we got up from the table and started browsing the house. I chose to go upstairs. Previous the very first visitor bedroom, outside the second just recently converted into a study, the smell was perceivably stronger. It appeared something synthetic or plastic was smoldering.
I discovered an extension cable running from an outlet next to the door to a computer workstation across the space. The cable was covered with a carpet. The smell seemed to stem from the rug.
After disconnecting the cord, which felt rather hot to the touch, I guardedly turned the edge of the rug over. I might see a dark smoky brown welt on the under side of the carpet and a faint brown line on the carpet. A few more minutes and the rug would most likely have ignited.
Hearing me call out, Alex and Kate showed up. We opened windows, took the rug outside, and double-checked to make sure everything else was all.
The supper that resumed was a bit suppressed and when the birthday cake was brought out the singing and gaiety appeared bit stretched, however we were all happy and pleased to have actually prevented a possibly severe mishap.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) reports that each year about 4,000 injuries associated with electrical cords require healthcare facility check outs. About half the injuries is an outcome of people tripping over extension cables.
The CPSC also reports about 3,300 domestic fires leading to 50 deaths and more than 300 injuries each year are due to abuse of extension cords. Alex had one part right. Running out of outlets while setting up a new computer system, he utilized an extension cord and covered it with a carpet to prevent tripping. The weather condition was uncommonly cold, so to keep warm, he later plugged in a portable heater into the very same cable and forgot to turn it off.
The cable's score was sufficient for the current being drawn. It would have run warm but it would not have actually threatened. The rug over it was acting as a heat trap, the mix a serious fire threat. The synthetic support of the carpet made the situation even worse.
The ethical of the story: don't utilize carpets to cover extension cables. They act as thermal insulators and can trigger electrical cables running under them to overheat.
Accidents and injuries due to electrical energy are really reasonably low. Electrical energy can still be dangerous. Picture what may have taken place if nobody was at home, or if it was late during the night and everyone was asleep.
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