S’pore Electrician Shares Tips On Home Electrical Safety After Dad’s Breaker Box Catches Fire

Electrician Shares Home Electrical Safety Tips After Fire At Father’s Home

Home electrics is something that many don’t spend as much time on as they should. Most of the time, we would often only see it as a problem when it’s too late.

That was what happened when a distribution board (DB) in the house of an electrician’s father caught fire as he was preparing to sleep.

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The electrician who retold the story in a Facebook post shared that if the father had slept minutes earlier, the flame would’ve grown uncontrollably and there would probably be disastrous consequences.

Distribution box in house burst into flames

According to a Facebook post shared on Sunday (5 Sep), the electrician’s father was having a shower at home before the electricity in the house went off.

This was on 20 Aug at around 11pm.

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Not paying much attention to the power trip, the father prepared for bedtime. However, a few minutes later, the father walked out of his bedroom and saw the DB in flames.

Thankfully, the father put out the fire before it got any bigger. The walls surrounding the DB were burnt black and parts of whatever was left were melted as well.

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Singapore Civil Defence Force personnel were called to the scene and found that there were some loose connections in the terminal.

The electrician also did some digging on his own and found that the break located outside the house wasn’t working as intended.

Therefore, a power trip didn’t occur when it should have.

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The electrician also pointed out that if his father had gone to sleep any earlier, he wouldn’t have noticed the flames, potentially resulting in a huge disaster.

Electrician shares home electrical safety tips

Thankfully, a crisis was averted due to sheer luck. However, lightning doesn’t strike twice, therefore the electrician has shared some home electrical safety tips so a similar situation won’t happen to you.

Here are the 9 tips that he shares:

1. Do not overload socket outlets and multi plugs.
2. If sparks form on the socket outlet and multi plugs, have them replaced immediately.
3. Conduct a ‘Trip Test’ weekly/monthly by switching off all socket outlets and pressing on the yellow button of the Residual Current Circuit Breaker (RCCB). If it flips down, the device is working correctly.
4. Switch off all socket outlets and light switches before leaving the house for a long period.
5. Avoid using instant water heaters and instead install a store water heater instead.
6. Take note of “plastic burning” smells and it could signal a failure in appliance insulation.
7. Buy a dry powder extinguisher in case of emergencies.
8. Whenever possible, do not leave the elderly or young children alone at home. If a fire were to occur, they may not be able to help themselves.
9. Engage a licensed electrical worker for all your home electrical works.

These tips were provided by the electrician who’s had years of experience under his belt and one would be wise to heed his advice.

Take potentially dangerous signs seriously

The fire that broke out in the father’s home was something that could’ve been avoided if he had taken the signs more seriously.

This story serves as a timely reminder to have a check on your own household electrical wiring.

And if you do spot anything amiss, do not put off having it fixed as with any potential accidents, it may happen out of the blue.

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Featured image adapted from Facebook & Facebook.