(Image: Seattle Fire)
Some of the old traditions of the spring start of daylight saving time don’t necessarily fit with present day life. Checking your smoke alarm batteries? For apartment dwellers in modern buildings, that is not necessarily a thing. But a recent warning from the Seattle Fire department following a two-alarm blaze at a Capitol Hill apartment building might provide an idea for a new spring forward tradition.
SFD says this February fire that badly damaged 12th Ave’s Kaylin Lee Apartments was started by an overheated electrical power strip that ignited nearby materials.
The department has posted information about the fire dangers from overloaded outlets and extension cords and tips on how to avoid the danger.
“Stay safe by using power strips only for low-voltage electronics and ensuring they match the amperage of your devices. NEVER plug one power strip into another (daisy chaining) or into an extension cord,” SFD writes. “Remember, power strips are meant for temporary use—turn them off or unplug them when not in use.”
With the move of the clocks forward an hour Sunday morning at 2 AM, consider making a check of your electrical outlets while you deal with the other spring forward tradition — your lost hour of sleep.
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I am not finding on the linked SFD website that power strips are for temporary use. Instead it says, “Extension cords are designed to provide a temporary power source and should be unplugged when not in use.”
Thanks for the info, some of it was new to me!
The language in the link is a little confusing as the use extension cords and power strip interchangeably at times. I think it’s good advice as many power strips don’t have the best built in protection and people rarely if ever replace them when they are supposed to.
Overloaded outlets from crappy power strips and power supplies is an unfortunately all to common source of fires.