Hey, there! Log in / Register
Light left on in closet ignites clothes, sparks four-alarm fire in Jamaica Plain
By adamg on Wed, 04/27/2011 - 10:37pm
Olmstead fire aftermath. Photo by BFD.
The Boston Fire Department reports a fire that broke out around 6 p.m. in a large two-family home at 14 Olmstead St. displaced four people and caused an estimated $300,000 in damage.
The department says a light bulb in a second-floor closet that was left on was hot enough to ignite clothes that were left too close to it. The fire quickly spread to the roof and the third floor.
It was the second major fire in that corner of Jamaica Plain in less than two weeks. On April 15, a two-alarm fire heavily damaged a triple decker on Glade Avenue, making 11 people homeless.
Neighborhoods:
Ad:
Support Universal Hub
Help keep Universal Hub going. If you like what we're up to and want to help out, please consider a (completely non-deductible) contribution.
Comments
Compact Fluorescents
One reason I like them: they pull less energy, don't get as hot, and tend not to ignite things around them or overheat old lamp wiring. Fire safety is one reason we put them in all the fixtures in an older relative's home.
I hope these folks can get back on their feet quickly - that's really got to suck.
Came to say this!
Came to say this!
wrong
http://www.cpsc.gov/CPSCPUB/PREREL/prhtml05/05005....
Read Your Own Links Much?
This is a VOLUNTARY recall of a SINGLE MANUFACTURING RUN. Nice try.
The general point still stands and is not invalidated - compact fluorescents pull less elecricity and operate at lower temperatures than incandescents. They are safer than incandescents, which run hot enough to cause fires and pull much more wattage.
You may love your ancient, dated, and wasteful technology, but this link simply does not apply to the issue at hand. Read your own links next time, please.
they make the housing FLAME RETARDANT
Gee, I wonder why? Maybe because IT GETS HOT?
If you owned a few ...
You wouldn't wonder.
They make the base flame retardant because it is an electrical insulating plastic material and has electricity running through it. This means they may get hot next to the wires - maybe - but they won't necessarily burst into flame OR catch things around them on fire!!
I've been using these for nearly 20 years and they tend to smell awful if their terminal failure mode involves any overheating at all - which still doesn't seem to make them hot enough to burn your hand or destroy the fixture.
Notice that, in this spurious link, there were NO INCIDENTS? None of these non-flame retardant bulbs caught fire! The only concern was that they didn't meet the standard, not that they were bursting into flame.
See here for more information on the hazards of ancient steampunk lighting technology in closets: http://www.checkthishouse.com/2827/closet-light-fi...
Oh wow
I'm loving that link.
"Laundry chutes: a convenient way to a disaster"
Out of my closet
We heard a ton of fire trucks yesterday evening and knew something big was going on. I have to say, this story has definitely convinced me to swap out the bare lightbulb in my clothes closet for a CFL!
Go LED
CFLs are best for applications where the light is on for longer periods of time. They tend to wear out prematurely in "quick on and off" scenarios. They also emit toxics if cracked open in tight quarters.
LED lights have finally gotten reasonably bright, in nice warm or cool whites, and somewhat reasonably priced. Plus they last for a really long time, and pull significantly less electricity than CFLs. You can get cheap, battery powered LED lights with motion sensors for a walk in closet, or use your existing wiring for a fixture or a string of LEDs.
Somewhat reasonably priced?
Somewhat reasonably priced? In other words, high priced.
LEDs do save money during the
LEDs do save money during the length of their life, but the day 1 purchase does come with sticker shock.
If buying an LED, I also recommend amazon, to read the online reviews.
Okay yeah, this isn't going
Okay yeah, this isn't going to help with that OCD problem of questioning whether I left something on or not.
covered lights...
...I don't know if it's law in Mass. But some states require covered lights (ie completely enclosed in a glass shade) in closets for this reason.
Yes, for new construction, in MA
Fixtures are required to be fluorescent in "regular" closets, although they are generally allowed to be enclosed fixtures with incandescent lights in larger "walk in" closets.
Holy crap, that house is next
Holy crap, that house is next door to mine. I don't know which side of Olmstead is even/odd, but this is either the house that abuts my back yard, or the one across the street from it. (From BFD pictures, looks like it's the green split-level across the street, but I can't make it out very well) The grade is uneven, so we're about 15 feet higher in elevation, and there are two yards between the two houses, and it looks like that was the reason the fire didn't spread to our block. I didn't get home until past 10:00 last night, by which time the trucks must have been gone, and the wind was blowing the other direction, so I didn't even notice what was going on over there.
It's deeply unsettling that this is the second major house fire within three blocks that's happened in the last two weeks. Glad everyone made it out OK.
Yikes
Some photos of the house during the fire.
Thanks for the link, Adam
The flame shots are by Jim Morgan, who among other things is calendar editor and arts writer at JP Patch.
I know how that is
A fire next door to me was from a light in a closet. Looked for a link, but found this little slideshow from the Somerville Journal instead:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAGooECDRbU
Not good to have firefighters on your patio.