Extremely Close Call
The other night our neighbor and wife were watching TV with the electric fireplace on. All of a sudden flames shot out from behind the TV ( fireplace is below the TV). He ripped the TV off the wall an...
Forum Discussion
Houston Remodeler wrote:
A dry power such as salt, flour, coffee, coffee creamer, would all work to extinguish an electrical fire in a pinch.
Tap water doesn't conduct much electric on its own. Salt in the water is needed to make the current flow. The water might pick up some salts along the way, but not enough to worry about.
Coffee creamer can catch fire, flour will explode under the right circumstances! Baking soda and salt are minerals that will not catch fire until heated beyond 'normal' temperatures. Baking soda is used in most fire extinguishers. ..
I watched a demonstration on the "Tonight show" with Johny Carson, where they took a bag with some flour in it, lit a small candle, and exploded it on TV!
Glad that the fire got put out quickly, and water does work great. Don't worry so much about being shocked by 120 volts, it will not jump very far. Even a extension cord dropped into salt water will not jump enough electricity to trip a 20 amp circuit breaker when the cord is underwater, and power can go in one side, travel 3/8" to the other side of the cord.
New code requirements in the past 8 years have started to require fault current trip circuit breakers for bedrooms. So if the circuit breaker senses arking, or amperage going quickly up and down, it will trip the circuit breaker. However this is the same thing that a drill motor or blender will do when running. . . Some vacuum cleaners will trip a ark fault circuit breaker in normal operation, it is just how their motors consume power.
Fred.
