Be careful with engine block heaters

NamMedevac 70 wrote:
Thanks everyone for your appreciation in my posting a news story about a safety issue to help others and keep them safe. No good deed goes unpunished. Trying to be helpful to others brings only

Some like to shoot the messenger if the story is not popular to them and for the uneducated Reno is high desert country of 4500ft where night time temperatures get down well below freezing not only in winter but also early spring so therefore some Reno diesel owners felt need for block heaters to you knuckle heads.

In the photo in the news story the truck appeared to be a GM diesel and they are on recent safety recall for block heater fire hazard. Too bad SAT.

I have no need for or desire to own a diesel but I do thank all of you for being generous taxpayers for supporting my fishing, hiking and camping etc. Life is very good indeed for this 75 year old. No serious health issues to interfere with the good times. I could care less about CAN

I think the issue is block heater caused fire. I think the story would be more accurate, and more helpful if it said the extension cord caused the fire. A 100 ft, 16 gauge cord, the electricity will just dribble out the end. A motor is likely to overheat because of low voltage, but resistance heater, like a block heater just will not get hot, but cord will.

I also question why block heater was plugged in in mild weather. If injuries where not reported I would wonder if the real cause of fire was a overheated insurance policy.