Aquarium is believed to be cause of house fire
An aquarium filled with water could come in handy for putting out a fire, but it was the exact opposite case in Ypsilanti Township on Wednesday where the electrical equipment used to power one is believed to have started a blaze.
Crews were dispatched to the 8000 block of Lake Crest Drive at 9:11 a.m. for the fire.
“The homeowner was (awakened) by a smoke detector,” said Capt. Brad Johnson of the Ypsilanti Township Fire Department. “Smoke was filling the house.”
The 54-year-old man and 53-year-old woman who lived in the home got out without injury.
Their neighbor entered the home and rescued a dog, then used three canisters of extinguishers on the fire before crews from Ypsilanti Township and the city of Ypsilanti arrived, Johnson said.
There was heavy smoke showing when firefighters arrived. They put out the fire in 10 minutes.
There was one “larger, tropical” fish in the aquarium, Johnson said, but its fate was unknown.
After a preliminary investigation, it’s believed the fire started near the socket where all the electrical aquarium equipment was plugged in.
“The fire started at the fish aquarium, spread down the wall and into the floor,” Johnson said. “They had an overloaded circuit.”
It is estimated the fire caused about $40,000 worth of damage.
John Counts covers cops and courts for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at johncounts@annarbor.com or you can follow him on Twitter.
Comments
ThaKillaBee
Fri, Jul 6, 2012 : 2:48 p.m.
I thought stuff like this was unlikely these days, because of circuit breakers. This is a legit question, I'm not trying to troll--what would cause something to overheat and start a fire that does not trigger the breaker box first?
ThaKillaBee
Sun, Jul 8, 2012 : 3:46 p.m.
It does. Thanks for the information!
YpsiLivin
Sat, Jul 7, 2012 : 2:35 p.m.
TKB, The wiring in a house is "sized" for the breaker that serves the circuit. 14-gauge wire, for example, requires a 15-amp breaker. If a 14-gauge/15A circuit is overloaded and the breaker trips as a result, one way someone might address that is by installing a "larger" breaker - e.g. a 20A breaker. The 20A breaker can handle the larger amperage load, but the 14-ga wire can't. The 14-ga. wire could overheat and catch on fire, yet never draw enough current to trip the 20A breaker. You could get the same effect with fuses, I guess, if you use the wrong kind of fuse. Fuses on convenience circuits are designed to "blow" as soon as the current exceeds the rated value of the link in the fuse. If you replaced a "regular blow" fuse with a "slow-blow" fuse (designed for motors, mostly) you could encounter an over-current situation that the fuse would "tolerate" for some period of time. If the over-current situation weren't egregious but still exceeded the ampacity of the wiring (or the socket, for that matter) you could also encounter an overcurrent situation that could cause a fire without blowing the fuse. A 20A breaker is designed to be used with 12-ga wire. When it comes to wiring, smaller gauge numbers indicate a larger diameter wire, so 12-ga wire is larger than 14-ga wire and has more ampacity - current-carrying ability. And once a fire is started, tripping the breaker will cut the electricity to the circuit, but it won't extinguish the carpet. I hope this helps.
Ron Granger
Fri, Jul 6, 2012 : 12:34 p.m.
I suspect the fish caused the blaze. If you ever watched the South Park episode with the killer fish, you'd know why.
actionjackson
Thu, Jul 5, 2012 : 10:15 p.m.
Minimum at outlets is 15amps. Very much doubt that the entire setup could use this much power. Even a tiny extension cord can handle that. Pinched or cords with weight on top of them could however compromise and overheat.
Ann English
Fri, Jul 6, 2012 : 11:40 p.m.
actionjackson, That's another fire safety tip in articles: do not put weight on top of cords in use. What ISN'T in the fire safety articles is a tip you give that does come with an electronic product with its cord wrapped up with a twist tie: Do not operate until loosened from the twist tie.
YpsiLivin
Fri, Jul 6, 2012 : 3:06 a.m.
Nothing indicates that the tank setup was the only thing on the circuit. In my first house, half of the house (literally) was on one circuit, and the other half of the house was on another one. The living room browned out every time the refrigerator turned on.
Ann English
Thu, Jul 5, 2012 : 10:02 p.m.
An illustration of one fire safety tip that appears in articles: Don't plug in too many cords at ONE place. I never expected to read of just that sort of mistake happening with cords to an AQUARIUM. I take it that every doctor with an aquarium in his waiting room knows better than to plug in more wires than an outlet is meant for.