02/05/2018
Be safe during these cold days. This was from a house that had 2 issues that almost caused a fire.
#1. Make sure that your space heater does not overload the circuit it is plugged into. Shut off the circuit that it is plugged into and see what else went off with that circuit. If it seems like several things went off, then it is probably not a good idea to use that circuit.
#2. It is a bit harder to find, but if you remove the plate cover on your outlet and shine a light in the box, you want to look at the wires that terminate on the screws of the outlet. Look to see if you see any melting of the plastic or discoloration of the screws. This would be a sign of heat that is caused by loose wires on the outlet. Also, look to make sure that there are no wires that just wrap around other wires without a wire nut on them. In this case, there were wires wrapped around each other, that had no wire nuts to keep them tight, and caused arcing between the wires which causes heat, and leads to the pictures below. Call a qualified Electrician if you see this kind of wiring on your outlet, it could save your family and your house.
