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MANGAWHAI'S NO.1 NEWSPAPER
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Warning as kitchen design feature sparks Mangawhai fireOne Northland home has been destroyed and another badly smoke damaged by fire in the last month – both linked to a common kitchen design feature.
Kitchen or bench ‘appliance garages’ which have a pull-down door to hide away toasters, hot water jugs, and other small appliances are a surprisingly common cause of fires according to the Fire Service. If appliances are not pushed well into the cupboard, the door can easily be accidentally lowered onto the on/off switches or toaster arms. In the past five years, several homes have been destroyed as a result of these fires. On December 12, a two-storey home in Mangawhai was gutted by fire after the roller door of the cabinet was accidentally pulled down onto a toaster handle and the family left the house. Specialist Fire Investigator Gary Beer said by the time the fire was noticed it was too late to save the house. A second fire, on New Year’s Day, left a Whangarei home badly smoke logged when the appliance garage door was also pulled down onto a toaster handle. “The occupant was at home and was alerted to the fire by a smoke alarm. However, much of the house was smoke logged,” said Mr Beer. National fire investigation manager, Peter Wilding, said it doesn’t take long for heat to build up in these cabinets and a fire can start within a few minutes. He raised the issue nationally with kitchen designers and at least one major manufacturer now includes micro switches that shut off power to the cabinet when the door is lowered. “However, a lot of homes have these types of appliance garages, and the recent fires are a reminder that they pose a very real risk of fire. “Our advice is to turn all appliances off at the wall when they are not being used, but ideally, in these types of cabinets, it would be better to have an electrician install the micro switch.” |
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