Be careful what you wish for.

[magic]

I couldn't wait to get my power back. Well last night it came back on. For my neighbor it was a tragedy. The power came back on about 8:30 my neighbors had gone out to get something to eat and get warm. When the came back at 10:00 their house was on fire!!! It started in the kitchen and went into the walls and spread quickly. The family is fine. They stayed at my house and we went back and forth all night trying to recover what we could. What a shame! So be careful what you wish for because it may not be what you expect.

Bob

 

[TanksNStuff]

Yea, some friends of ours over in PA heard this could happen and made sure they were home when the power was due to come back on. Luckily, no fire for them, but apparently is more common than you think.

It's a shame that your neighbors went through that Bob, especially after what they already went through the last couple weeks. Good thing they have a great neighbor like you to help them get through it. At least they were lucky for that.

Let this be a lesson to everyone who currently doesn't have power. Try to be at home (and awake) when the power comes back to watch for fires... and having a fire extinguisher on hand is a good idea too.

 

[downbeach]

I used to throw my main, until power was restored.

 

[Tazmaniancowboy]

I mentioned this to my father when we were leaving the cleanup of his shore house. I suggested we trip the main breaker so owe could be there to power it up, but he wasn't worried about it. We had water in the outlets, did your neighbor have water? If not, I wonder what would trigger this.

 

[Edwardw771]

that's crazy maybe those Mayan's were right and the end of world is upon us.

 

[TanksNStuff]

Yes Don, I believe that's the most common cause of the electrical fires... moisture in outlets.

It's probably a good idea to unplug everything and turn off all light switches, or better yet, throw the main breaker if you're not going to be home when it comes back on.

 

[magic]

The problem is that you don't know when the power is going to be restored. We were told Friday. No water in the outlets the house was totally dry. The one son came banging on my door. I pulled my hose out and ran to the house. The older son was already using their hose but the fire was already to far to do anything about. When the windows started blowing out we stop trying and moved away from the house, what a helpless feeling standing there watching it burn. The fire dept showed up in about 8 minutes although it felt like a hour.

Bob

 

[Jcurry@wesketch]

I shut everything down except for a lamp. The power surge when the electricity comes back on can blow out all kinds of electronics and other devices.

 

[paintman27]

I shut everything down except for a lamp. The power surge when the electricity comes back on can blow out all kinds of electronics and other devices.

When we had our generator installed our electrician said that a lot of people who wire their own small generators directly into their sub panel don't know what they are doing. He told me that if the generator is running, and the power from the street comes back on, a lot of people don't know that they need to have the main breaker off. If you don't, the power from the generator and the power from the street collide inside the sub panel and basically explode. My electrical inspector told me that this could also cause the nearest transformer out on the pole to explode. I'm not saying this is what happened in this case but its something to be aware of.

 

[Zippy69]

Get a whole house surge protector. Goes in the fuse box, if you get a surge when the power comes back on,it trips and protects things like the fridge,furnace and lots of other things hardwired into your panel.

 

[paintman27]

Get a whole house surge protector. Goes in the fuse box, if you get a surge when the power comes back on,it trips and protects things like the fridge,furnace and lots of other things hardwired into your panel.

that was something else I had talked to my elec. about them. He told me they work great and where about $300 for a good one but the problem is they are only good for one strong surge. Seeing as how we lose power on my street about once a month even with good weather, I opted out for now. But of course when I lose all my computers and ballasts I'll be signing a different tune. But at least I'll still have my vodka!

 

[Olivier]

The problem is that you don't know when the power is going to be restored. We were told Friday. No water in the outlets the house was totally dry. The one son came banging on my door. I pulled my hose out and ran to the house. The older son was already using their hose but the fire was already to far to do anything about. When the windows started blowing out we stop trying and moved away from the house, what a helpless feeling standing there watching it burn. The fire dept showed up in about 8 minutes although it felt like a hour.

Bob

Bob,
hose and power washer would help. i got an incident at my in law house and two power washers (2500psi per) take out the fire before the bridgewater fire department arrived.

Power generator directly wired into the service panel without automatic transfer switch nor turn off the main breaker is a formulation for house on fire without insurance covered.

 

[trivan]

Not sure how true this is, but I did read that if you backfeed the power line from a generator and injure or worse kill a lineperson, you might be liable. So please make sure the main is off if you do have to tap into the main panel for what ever reason.

 

[Hawkeye]

First of all - no idea how i missed this thread.

Second of all that's awful to hear bob - I'm also glad you are safe and uninjured by going to help.

Did the neighbor leave a generator on to power the fridge in the kitchen while they were out?