Another deadly apartment fire, this time in NYC, 19 killed so far.

Pepper said:
I heard space heater, but I was expecting lithium battery recharge for an ebike. That's what's been the cause of many apartment fires here lately.
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A space heater being the cause makes sense. Most Space heaters are Not built to be used for an extended period of time, especially in a building where the wiring could be decades old, The longer the heater runs, the hotter the wiring can become....and if the insulation begins to break down, there will be a "short" which could easily ignite anything flammable nearby.
 
OMG! This is so terribly sad!! It seems the news just keep getting worse and worse! The article says many were Muslims. May Allah be pleased with those who perished and grant them entrance to Jannah (paradise)...I believe with the children it's automatic. May all who were affected by this tragedy recover from their injuries, be blessed to find safe shelter and be comforted in their grief.
 
Don M. said:
A space heater being the cause makes sense. Most Space heaters are Not built to be used for an extended period of time, especially in a building where the wiring could be decades old, The longer the heater runs, the hotter the wiring can become....and if the insulation begins to break down, there will be a "short" which could easily ignite anything flammable nearby.
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Did they specify electric or an old carosine space heater. I thought the electric automatically shut down once a certain temp is reached and most had ceramic rather than metal covers. Also many reports say the heat was functioning so someone really wanted it hot.
 
A good update the death count was lowered from 19 to 17. Bad news is there are reports that there were a lot of false alarms so no one paid attention anymore.

Like the Philly fire there seems to large numbers of people in one unit/apartment with one father rushing to get his 8 children out of their burning unit. How that affected to casualty count don't know yet.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...ng-bed-Bronx-apartment-inferno-broke-out.html
 
WhatInThe said:
Did they specify electric or an old carosine space heater. I thought the electric automatically shut down once a certain temp is reached and most had ceramic rather than metal covers. Also many reports say the heat was functioning so someone really wanted it hot.
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There are other ways for a space heater to cause a fire besides overheating. When I needed one to heat up the bathroom, I did a lot of research.
The first thing I did was pay a licensed electrician to replace my old outlet with a GFCI outlet that automatically shuts off power to it if it gets wet. Then, I found out that if the plug doesn't fit snugly in the socket, it allows "arcing" - which is sparks in the space between the metal prongs on the plug and the metal in the outlet. That causes the plug to get very hot - hot enough to start a fire in the wall. I always check the plug after the heater has been on for a few minutes. If it's hot, it doesn't fit snugly & it's arcing & can cause a fire.
I also had 10 other old outlets replaced after noticing the vacuum cleaner plug also got hot & didn't fit snugly in the outlet.
A space heater (and a hair dryer) use a lot of power - around 1500 watts.
 
I wonder if it was one of those halogen heaters. Apparently the tubes can explode without any obvious cause.
It seems that those who died were overcome by toxic smoke.
 
win231 said:
There are other ways for a space heater to cause a fire besides overheating. When I needed one to heat up the bathroom, I did a lot of research.
The first thing I did was pay a licensed electrician to replace my old outlet with a GFCI outlet that automatically shuts off power to it if it gets wet. Then, I found out that if the plug doesn't fit snugly in the socket, it allows "arcing" - which is sparks in the space between the metal prongs on the plug and the metal in the outlet. That causes the plug to get very hot - hot enough to start a fire in the wall. I always check the plug after the heater has been on for a few minutes. If it's hot, it doesn't fit snugly & it's arcing & can cause a fire.
I also had 10 other old outlets replaced after noticing the vacuum cleaner plug also got hot & didn't fit snugly in the outlet.
A space heater (and a hair dryer) use a lot of power - around 1500 watts.
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That's the thing items that heat up like a space heater or hair dryer basically max out the average residential outlet/circut. Same for toasters and microwaves in the kitchen.

Now you have me wondering if there were extension cords involved. On older wiring/outlets some people cut off the third prong in a plug as well.

But early reports said the heat was working fine so if they had too many people and/or too much stuff in that room the warm air would not have circulated properly leading to use of the space heater. That shows up on the electric bill as well.
 

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