Electrical Safety and Fire Prevention

Electrical fire safety:

Help increase awareness about dangerous home electrical fires in your community with these messages and free materials from the USFA here.

A few facts about electrical fires:

• Nationally, from 2011 to 2015, electrical distribution or lighting equipment was involved in the ignition of an average of 34,000 reported home structure fires per year.
• These fires involved equipment such as wires, lights, cords and plugs.
• Electrical distribution or lighting equipment ranked first in direct property damage and third among the major fire causes in homes.
  In 2017, electrical fires accounted for 7.9 percent and appliances for 7.5 percent of structure fire causes in Minnesota.

Electrical safety and fire prevention:

• Only plug one heat-producing appliance directly into an outlet at a time.
• Extension cords are intended for temporary use only.
• Have all electrical work done by a qualified electrician.
• Call an electrician if you smell burning or a rubbery smell from appliances, notice flickering or dimming lights, see sparks from an outlet, or find discolored outlets or frequent problems with fuses or tripped breakers.