Last night we had a pretty scary experience that ended well but certainly could have been much MUCH worse. Right before logging off the computer last night to go to bed I started smelling something that smelled like smoke. I immediately unplugged everything that I could find in the room (computer, cable, tv) thinking it might be one of the boxes over heating. Unfortunately, the smell was getting worse and we had to call the Fire Department in. They went through the house for about a half our/ 45 minutes before they discovered the problem. An old receptacle that was behind a dresser had started basically smoking for a lack of a better term. It gets weirder. When we went down to turn the breaker off, the receptacle seemed to stay live. It didnt appear to be set up to the main fuse box which may explain why it didnt kick the breaker. The entire power to the house needed to be shut down for them to take it out. After they left, we immediately called BG&E who capped off the wires and also replaced another old receptacle we had on the other side of the wall. This is a good lesson to anyone who lives in an old house. The first thing is you need to know your own home. I wasnt aware that the receptacle was even there and had I went to bed just 10-15 minutes earlier I might have waken up today around a house that was burnt to the ground. We were very lucky! Secondly, never be scared to call the fire department if something doesnt feel right. I want to thank the Baltimore County Fire Department for how timely and thorough they were finding the problem. There arent enough words to express how thankful we are for what you did.
Posted on: Thu, 15 Jan 2015 20:24:41 +0000
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