The dangers of damaged extension cords

[Brent_G]

We had a fire last week in one of our storage shops from what both the fire marshal and insurance inspector believe was a damaged extension cord. We had one outdoor cord that ran heat lamps in the chicken coop on a timer. Cord was plenty heavy for the job ( 10/3 cord powering 3 - 125 watt lamps) but they think mice might have chewed on it or something compromised it.

Fire was noticed at 5pm and I was last in the coop the night before and noticed nothing out of the ordinary.

Large shed, two chicken coops, and hay storage building were a total loss with another building mildly damaged.

It is often overlooked but it only takes a small thing to make a large headache!

 

[bdcardinal]

We aren't allowed to have anything plugged into an extension cord at work over a certain period of time according to our OSHA person.

 

[nwjones18]

Man that's awful! Good luck with everything.

 

[morepwr]

So sorry to see that.

 

[cjcride]

Sorry Brent.
Thanks for the heads up.

 

[Shannow]

That's so sad...

but also the reason that we have "test and tag" laws that require all leads and equipment in a working workplace to be tested (meggered and inspected) monthly, and be on a register...office stuff is three months.

After the laws were in for a few year, it became second nature to grab either end and look for a tag, which meant that many faulty cords are picked up between tests.

 

[andyd]

Would a ground fault pig tail have prevented this?

 

[Darwin1138]

Sorry to heard that, and please forgive my morbid curiosity but I have to ask:

Were there any chickens inside? And if they were, does the fire smelled anything like a delicious roast?

 

[urrlord]

Sorry man.Hope you have insurance.

 

[Brent_G]

Thanks everyone, we have insurance so that isn't as bad it could have been.

All except 3 chickens made it out of the main coop, but we lost 11 ducklings and 7 chickens in the other that was locked.

Nothing left as there was a 300 gallon waste oil tank in the area and it burned extremely hot.

 

[rjundi]

Using extension cords is a hazard in applications. An outlet should be hardwired to the receptacle. Many lives are lost and buildings burned due to misapplication of them.

 

[antiqueshell]

Originally Posted By: rjundi
Using extension cords is a hazard in applications. An outlet should be hardwired to the receptacle. Many lives are lost and buildings burned due to misapplication of them.


Yep, all the warnings about misusing extension cords are not
baseless whining. I actually like that Australian code where such items are tested on a regular basis.

 

[The Critic]

Sorry to see the loss.

 

[Garak]

Very sad. My experience with a damaged extension cord was limited to grabbing one with wet gloves, and that was enough for me.

 

[Win]

Thankfully no human life was lost.

I never use extension cords in any type of commercial setting. It would be my luck that the insurance company would decline coverage for a loss resulting from misuse of one.

 

[Rand]

as long as the extension cord has a circuit breaker at the base they are ok to use here.

afaik

 

[Cujet]

Oh, that's horrible. I'm so sorry about the fire. We tend to take many things for granted and quite often safety is overlooked.