Fire Official Warns the Danger of Electrical Fire Extinguishing Methods
Electrical fires often start in the wall of a home or building and may not be noticeable to the naked eye. A simple spark can often turn to embers then to fire which quickly spreads first up the immediate walls then throughout the dwelling as fires double in size every thirty seconds.
Greenville Fire Chief Dough Belletete warns that the biggest threat in home electrical fire risks are caused by what fire officials call a daisy chai.
“A daisy chain is where you take a multi  outlet power strip then you run an extension chord then you run something else into that. Those are big electrical hazards”, says Belletete.Â
According to the South Alabama Electric Cooperative home electrical problems account for nearly 68,000 fires, nearly 500 deaths, and $868 million in property losses. Faulty wiring and lack of fire knowledge plays a roll in these figures–as electrical fires cannot be safely extinguished in the traditional water based manner. Instead use a combination ABC extinguisher which can be purchased at most local retailers. These extinguishers are equipped to extinguish commonly caused house fires including electrical and gas fires. Â
