[drumnut08]

It's been about a week since I've been on here , due to a devastating house fire that occurred at my sisters house a week ago . Luckily , no humans were injured , but their two family pets were overtaken from toxic smoke inhalation ! The dog held on for a few days , but started failing fast ! Was having seizures , lost his sight and ability to stand or walk . It was heart wrenching to watch and luckily he went on his own . It was determined that the fire started under the kitchen sink where along the back of the cabinet up high was a 4" square with a receptacle ( no GFCI ) . This apparently was for an in sink erator air switch connection . Pneumatic line runs from a button on counter to this plug in module . From there , a cord plugs in to the the module and the other end goes to the garbage disposal . You push the air switch it gives the module a pulse of air to turn on and off the GD . The fire inspector thinks that the cord that went from recep. To module ( constant hot ) got frayed somehow , caused an arc and ignited what ever was under there ? It's as good a theory as any I guess ? This work was done when she moved on a few years ago . She had a home inspection and it passed . I've done a few things there over the years , but never stuck my head under the sink . I'm not blaming myself , but sure wish I had checked things out a little better . I'm still amazed at the total destruction that was caused in such a short time ! I went back Monday and looked at the main panel , which was de energized at this point . Found 9 tripped breakers . As the fire spread and nm fused together , they tripped one by one . Just wanted to share , thanks !

 

[Service Call]

That's unfortunate to hear. Sorry for their loss. Don't know what you could learn from this.....except to possibly pay more attention. I don't know if that would have made a difference or not. Was it something that if you saw it, would there have been any corrective action available? In a box under a sink, I don't know.

 

[Pete m.]

Sorry to hear that.

Pete

 

[macmikeman]

Were there any afci's in that house? Was that outlet under the sink connected to any gfi device? Just curious, I know code would not have required either for an outlet under the sink.

 

[drumnut08]

That's unfortunate to hear. Sorry for their loss. Don't know what you could learn from this.....except to possibly pay more attention. I don't know if that would have made a difference or not. Was it something that if you saw it, would there have been any corrective action available? In a box under a sink, I don't know.

well , the thought is , that the cord got damaged from something constantly being pushed in and out of the cabinet ? I'm only assuming that the cords were hanging and not strapped up and out of harms way . I'm not sure I'm buying the frayed cord theory either ? I think something fried in that pressure switch box personally . I'm glad it's nothing I ever worked on , but not happy I didn't go through the house a little better before she moved in . I guess I put a little faith in the home inspector . I won't make that mistake again !

 

[drumnut08]

Were there any afci's in that house? Was that outlet under the sink connected to any gfi device? Just curious, I know code would not have required either for an outlet under the sink.

no and no ! That may have prevented this . The house was redone before she moved in , and at the time afci's weren't in existence . The circuit that that was on did trip eventually . Only as a result of getting melted together I'm assuming ?

 

[Bootss]

they have those air switchs inside and outside for Whirlpools also. not sure how durable those switches are

 

[HARRY304E]

Sorry to hear this

It does happen all too fast,they say it only takes a few minutes for all the smoke to reach it's flash point.

http://youtu.be/QqMVm72FMRk

 

[drumnut08]

Sorry to hear this It does happen all too fast,they say it only takes a few minutes for all the smoke to reach it's flash point. http://youtu.be/QqMVm72FMRk <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqMVm72FMRk">YouTube Link</a>

thanks Harry ! Most everything on the kitchen melted beyond recognition ! The refrigerator was still there , but the entire insides ( plastic ) melted away to a pile in the bottom . There was a pile of something they removed from the kitchen on the yard . My brother on law couldn't fissure out what it was . It was their entire pot rack melted together and not recognizable ! Thermostats melted off walls , flat screen tv melted . It's a real eye opener for sure , and damn near everything we out on our houses , is a toxic accelerant ! Furniture cushion padding is the worst they said . Sad about the animals , but it could have been way worse !

 

[drumnut08]

they have those air switchs inside and outside for Whirlpools also. not sure how durable those switches are

I agree . I'm wondering if the contacts inside weren't stuck somewhere between open and closed , but closer to closed , which caused the arc ? I'll never know , because that thing was a melted pile of plastic .

 

[Ace_TX]

there isnt much space under the sink to store things, i dont see a situation where someone

you might find a box of comet or something...nothing that would would constantly take in/out that could damage the power cord and cause a fire

something doesnt sound right about the explanation from the fire marshall

was anyone at home when the fire started?

 

[big2bird]

It's been about a week since I've been on here , due to a devastating house fire that occurred at my sisters house a week ago . Luckily , no humans were injured , but their two family pets were overtaken from toxic smoke inhalation ! The dog held on for a few days , but started failing fast ! Was having seizures , lost his sight and ability to stand or walk . It was heart wrenching to watch and luckily he went on his own . It was determined that the fire started under the kitchen sink where along the back of the cabinet up high was a 4" square with a receptacle ( no GFCI ) . This apparently was for an in sink erator air switch connection . Pneumatic line runs from a button on counter to this plug in module . From there , a cord plugs in to the the module and the other end goes to the garbage disposal . You push the air switch it gives the module a pulse of air to turn on and off the GD . The fire inspector thinks that the cord that went from recep. To module ( constant hot ) got frayed somehow , caused an arc and ignited what ever was under there ? It's as good a theory as any I guess ? This work was done when she moved on a few years ago . She had a home inspection and it passed . I've done a few things there over the years , but never stuck my head under the sink . I'm not blaming myself , but sure wish I had checked things out a little better . I'm still amazed at the total destruction that was caused in such a short time ! I went back Monday and looked at the main panel , which was de energized at this point . Found 9 tripped breakers . As the fire spread and nm fused together , they tripped one by one . Just wanted to share , thanks !

I have the same air switch, but the module plugs into the recept directly. No cord.
Any smoke det.? Was anyone home?

 

[HARRY304E]

thanks Harry ! Most everything on the kitchen melted beyond recognition ! The refrigerator was still there , but the entire insides ( plastic ) melted away to a pile in the bottom . There was a pile of something they removed from the kitchen on the yard . My brother on law couldn't fissure out what it was . It was their entire pot rack melted together and not recognizable ! Thermostats melted off walls , flat screen tv melted . It's a real eye opener for sure , and damn near everything we out on our houses , is a toxic accelerant ! Furniture cushion padding is the worst they said . Sad about the animals , but it could have been way worse !

Losing pets that way is horrible!,they've got no way out unless we are home to save them..

 

[drumnut08]

I have the same air switch, but the module plugs into the recept directly. No cord. Any smoke det.? Was anyone home?

so did this one . There's a switched receptacle on the module that goes to the garbage disposal . I think they only make one style of those switches ? I may explained it wrong ? No , just the pets were home and yes all the new smoke detectors that I replaced a year ago were going off . Neighbors called 911 , then my sister who wasn't far .

 

[scott1]

It's been about a week since I've been on here , due to a devastating house fire that occurred at my sisters house a week ago . Luckily , no humans were injured , but their two family pets were overtaken from toxic smoke inhalation ! The dog held on for a few days , but started failing fast ! Was having seizures , lost his sight and ability to stand or walk . It was heart wrenching to watch and luckily he went on his own . It was determined that the fire started under the kitchen sink where along the back of the cabinet up high was a 4" square with a receptacle ( no GFCI ) . This apparently was for an in sink erator air switch connection . Pneumatic line runs from a button on counter to this plug in module . From there , a cord plugs in to the the module and the other end goes to the garbage disposal . You push the air switch it gives the module a pulse of air to turn on and off the GD . The fire inspector thinks that the cord that went from recep. To module ( constant hot ) got frayed somehow , caused an arc and ignited what ever was under there ? It's as good a theory as any I guess ? This work was done when she moved on a few years ago . She had a home inspection and it passed . I've done a few things there over the years , but never stuck my head under the sink . I'm not blaming myself , but sure wish I had checked things out a little better . I'm still amazed at the total destruction that was caused in such a short time ! I went back Monday and looked at the main panel , which was de energized at this point . Found 9 tripped breakers . As the fire spread and nm fused together , they tripped one by one . Just wanted to share , thanks !

I have been a member of ET for only a year now. I still don't know everyone. My condolences go out to you and the family. So sorry for the loss.

 

[drumnut08]

there isnt much space under the sink to store things, i dont see a situation where someone you might find a box of comet or something...nothing that would would constantly take in/out that could damage the power cord and cause a fire something doesnt sound right about the explanation from the fire marshall was anyone at home when the fire started?

apparently they had a big Tupperware container of dog food under there . It was like the size of a kitchen trash can . That would get slid in and out daily when they fed the dog . If the back of that thing was cutting into a cord , that may be how it happened ? I'm not exactly buying that either and am more inclined to think the problem started in the air switch module itself ? Probably never know for sure ? Only the cat and dog were home and neither made it . Smoke inhalation got them .

 

[Big John]

Nasty business, sorry to hear it. I've seen footage of fire tests in houses and seeing how quickly it can engulf a room is just incredible. I am glad to hear no-one was hurt. Working smokes or did they just see it in time to get out?

 

[drumnut08]

Nasty business, sorry to hear it. I've seen footage of fire tests in houses and seeing how quickly it can engulf a room is just incredible. I am glad to hear no-one was hurt. Working smokes or did they just see it in time to get out?

the smokes were working , which is the first thing the neighbor heard before he called 911 . Luckily , it was first thing in the morning so the kids were at daycare and school and my sister and brother in law were at work . The neighbor tried to kick the door in to get the dog out , before the police and fire crews got there . It's a mess , but in hindsight , could have been a whole lot worse !

 

[rrolleston]

So sorry to hear about you and your families loss. I have never heard of those switches before but an almost off sounds very possible and nothing could have been done to prevent it. I had a switch in our home do that I flipped it off and it sat in the middle and shortly after I noticed smoke. The scary part about electricity is that there is always a chance of something failing and it can't always be prevented.

 

[big2bird]

I am tempted to put the GD circuit on a GFCI CB now.