Be careful with engine block heaters
RENO, Nev. (KOLO) - The Reno Fire Department released new details following a house fire near Wooster High School. It happened Monday, April 18, 2022 around 10:45 p.m. at 1570 Clemson Drive. Fir...
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Definitely a strange potential cause.
A block heater or similar could easily short out or have too much resistance and draw too much power (=heat), but would presumably overload that circuit and trip a breaker.
However who knows. Stranger things have happened. Back in the day, my dads 85 Chevy pickup spontaneously combusted in the middle of the night, sitting in the driveway. It was winter, but it was not plugged in. No cause determined, however I do recall it having a finicky + battery connection prior to.
Got lucky though. Fire torched 3 vehicles and destroyed the attached garage but got putout before spreading to the house. 5/8 fire rock does its job and it helped that the garage was a addition so the attic wasn’t connected to the main home.
A block heater or similar could easily short out or have too much resistance and draw too much power (=heat), but would presumably overload that circuit and trip a breaker.
However who knows. Stranger things have happened. Back in the day, my dads 85 Chevy pickup spontaneously combusted in the middle of the night, sitting in the driveway. It was winter, but it was not plugged in. No cause determined, however I do recall it having a finicky + battery connection prior to.
Got lucky though. Fire torched 3 vehicles and destroyed the attached garage but got putout before spreading to the house. 5/8 fire rock does its job and it helped that the garage was a addition so the attic wasn’t connected to the main home.
