That’s how I woke up at 4:00am! The kitchen, which is in the next room to my bedroom, had flames shooting up to the ceiling in one corner. I grabbed the fire extinguisher and put it out and then we opened all the doors and windows to clear the smoke. No, nobody was hurt, not even our two parrots (birds normally die real quick from smoke inhalation), we just got the pants scared off of us. The cause was the electric can opener (I just bought that thing three years ago. It was a sunbeam brand.). Something happened to it in the middle of the night and up it went.
Do me a favor and check your smoke alarms. Make sure they have fresh batteries and function properly. Make sure you have a good working fire extinguisher (the A,B, and C kind) and that it is handy and away from any potential sources of fires so that if one does break out, you can get to it quickly. Unplug can openers and toasters and the like when not in use.
Thanks for the reminder. Glad you and your family weren’t hurt. I guess we can be thankful for working fire alarms and extinguishers. (They do what they are intended to do.)
Never heard of an electric can opening going up. Glad my “manual” can open doesn’t need to be UL tested…
Philip,
That’s scary stuff. Glad it wasn’t more serious… cause it sure could have been! Great
advice on the smoke detectors. I’m going to check mine now.
A spontaneous combustion can opener??? I think I would give Sunbeam a call.
Good luck and STAY SAFE! Dave
I would, except that I don’t have any more proof. The can opener is melted down to a chared blob of plastic with a couple of metal gizmo’s sticking out. The only way I figured out what it was is because it was the blob next to the half melted toaster. Anyways, I think it only had a 1 year warrenty. Maybe I’ll send it to them so they can figure out why it did that and then fix the problem in all the new ones.
Tom,
Very happy…
I was a little worried near the end. It’s about time the refs “cheated” in our favor! [:D]
I would have like for the onsides kick to have not been called back so Florida could
have won it without controversy… but a wins a win. Dave
I would definitely do that! A pic is one thing. To send the opener to them so that they can actually feel, hold, AND smell it, is an entirely different matter.
Yeah, maybe you can save someone else from going through the same thing.
Then again, it might have just been the one can opener. Still, I guess it coudn’t
hurt to let them know. I got my mom one of those openers that “runs” around
the can… if nothing else, it’s really cool to watch! [:D]Good luck, Dave
I’m not normally a run-and-get-a-lawyer person, but it seems you have a valid claim against Sunbeam. The warantee only covers the product itself. They still may be liable for damages long after the warantee has expired. They should at least meet the deductable on your homeowners’ insurance for any damage caused. I’d hang on to the can opener - don’t send it back to them or it might get “lost.”
The layout is in the process of being dismantled because we are moving. Fortunatly the government is buying our house so that they can plow it under and build a community center and parking lot, so they don’t care about what condition the house is in. You’re right though, it would have been most unfortunate to lose all my boxed up stuff. Then I really would have to start ALL over! Thats not the excuse that I was looking for to buy more trains!
I remember my parents house getting hit by lightning as a kid. The lightning hit the TV antenna and every bit of coax cable in the house was on fire. I still remember my dad pulling the cables out of the basement ceiling and the fire department coming to the house. I know how you feel, that was the scariest day I’ve ever had.
I thought about that, and I’m like you, I don’t normally jump to that conclusion. But right now I’m trying to buy a house and the financing is difficult so a law suit might rock the boat a little too much, ya know? Besides, Uncle Sam (the ones buying my current house) don’t care so it’s not going to affect how much they are giving me for my house. I think I’m just going to keep thanking God and move on down the road.
Whilst plugged in nothing is truly safe, as you have found out. I am a little paranoid about things being left that way all the time as I grew up in an environment where every outlet is switched - for just this sort of reason. Be safe, unplug.
I try to make it a habit to unplug all unused appliances…especially toaster ovens …it’s kind of a pain to do this but at least it cuts down on the risk of fire… I had a train room in the early 80’s almost go up in flames…it was a detached garage out in the back …good thing i was only in the benchwork portion of the layout…i bought one of those cheesy plastic fans…while it was running in the middle of the night (I forgot to turn it off) , the bearings seized up and the fan went into a meltdown because of the heat generated…I got the fire out with a garden hose but the smoke damage really messed up the room…been careful ever since…chuck