Microwave Kitchen Fire

[tulip]

Whoa, Pardes, so glad you are okay. What a story! With my kitchen renovation in full swing, I'm sans smoke detectors at the moment. Thanks for the link to the reviews. I'll get some this week. My new micro is not a spacemaker, and the old one I'm using during the renovations is only plugged in when in use.

What was burning--the walls?

It's also important to have a fire extinguisher in the kitchen and easily accessible.

[Biciclista]

our microwave would turn itself on in the middle of the night. The famous "intermittent" problem.
I called a guy out on it 13 months after I bought it. He knew it was intermittent, and was scratching his head on how he was going to investigate. He leaned on the top of the microwave (buttons on front) and it went off all by itself, it started cooking. He was really startled, but convinced.

Even though it was past warranty he gave me a script to buy a new one and took the old one out of the house.

I'm glad you fixed your smoke detectors. all those beeps would drive me crazy.
and i'm also glad you didn't suffer a more serious loss this time.

[wackyjacky1]

Like everyone else here, when I read your post I ran into the kitchen to see what kind of microwave I have (Sharp, thank goodness).

How scary! I'm glad everything turned out pretty much okay, pardes.

My mom had a visit from the fire department a couple of weeks ago. She hadn't opened the chimney flue all the way so when she lit a fire the smoke came pouring out of the fireplace and into the house. It was scary but the damage was just from smoke, not flames. And all the firemen who showed up were REALLY cute, so there's that.

[bmccasland]

Pardes - so glad you didn't have a serious fire.

Everyone - make certain you mark your calendars to replace the batteries in your smoke detectors annually! October was fire prevention month, so that's as good a month as any.

First Alert makes pretty good smoke detectors. I'm one of those that doesn't like them hard wired into your house, unless it's by an alarm company, and all should have battery back up. Which brings us back to replacing the batteries annually.

(resume includes being a firefighter....)

[divingbiker]

I've got an Amana built-in microwave that has started on its own intermittently ever since I got it 14 years ago this week. It only happens when I close the door, not spontaneously. I've never worried about it, but maybe I should.

And Pardes, I'm so glad you didn't have a serious fire this time, but I'm having a hard time getting my head around how you could be living in a house without working smoke detectors after losing everything to a fire 6 years ago!

[Velobambina]

Pardes, what model of the GE Spacemaker did you have? I might start unplugging ours when we aren't using it.

Thank goodness you are OK.

[pardes]

Pardes, what model of the GE Spacemaker did you have? I might start unplugging ours when we aren't using it.

Thank goodness you are OK.

Ummmm I think it's the XL1200 or XL1800. If you have that model you really should consider unplugging it when not in use. Apparently it's not a house wiring problem but the wiring inside the microwave that for no reason turns itself on and can't be turned off without unplugging.

You could also contact GE for their recall notices. With so many problems noted, I'm sure there is some advisory that has been issued.

[pardes]

And Pardes, I'm so glad you didn't have a serious fire this time, but I'm having a hard time getting my head around how you could be living in a house without working smoke detectors after losing everything to a fire 6 years ago!

I'm not an idiot.

Two of the three were working. One of the two working ones was chirping that it needed a new battery but it was still operational. Two of the three alarms went off one softly and one VERY loudly.

They are all hard-wired and impossible to dismount. I've replaced them with all battery operated ones that are easy to access.

[shootingstar]

About microwave use safety and fire safety/including scalding. I never knew..but then I use our microwave once a day only --usually for nuking my oatmeal early in morning.

http://www.nfpa.org/itemDetail.asp?c...rowave%20ovens

National Fire Protection Assoc. has existed since early 1900's. The organization writes various engineering and technical standards on fire safety design of certain equipment, building features and firefighting equipment. NFPA standards are cited in many U.S. and Canadian fire and building codes....therefore it becomes part of law.

[PamNY]

Pardes, I'm so glad you and yours are okay. What a scary experience. It's good you posted it; safety reminders are always helpful.

Pam

[Mr. Bloom]

It's also important to have a fire extinguisher in the kitchen and easily accessible.

+1 +1 +1 They are not expensive. Give them as gifts to loved ones...they're under $20 on Amazon.

We received two as gifts a few years ago...actually a very thoughtful gift since it's important and we often don't think of getting them for ourselves.

[Tuckervill]

One of my husband's ex-employees was not so lucky on Friday, we learned. Her house burned in the night and she went back in to save her dog, and she perished. Unfortunately, she lived alone, had no children, no other close relatives, and they were unable to identify her. We knew it was her house from the picture in the paper on Saturday, so my husband has the grim task of looking in his records for emergency contacts and getting that information to the police. He tried yesterday, but no one in the police department would take the information until the right person comes in this morning.

My husband has been in touch with the fire chief, and the lady's niece. We read in the paper that they were doing DNA testing to determine her identity since she was unidentifiable, and an autopsy to determine her cause of death (standard procedure). They have asked my husband to see if the company's insurance company will release a dentist's name, if any, for identification.

Apparently the niece, who couldn't be bothered to come 80 miles to help her when she broke her hip (I, a stranger, am the one who took her to the ER after she lay on her couch for 3 days), has already been through the house, took her van, and all the papers they could find. And probably any cash or valuables that may have been there.

Her sister lives in CA and hasn't come out, yet. I guess she's waiting until the body is released from the coroner. Pam wanted to be cremated, so there will be no service here, according to the niece. I'm kind of sad about that. Pam was a hard person to like, kinda. She smoked and smelled like it, and was not attractive and had a smoker's voice, and it was loud and obnoxious. But she had an urge to care for others and always cooked for the employees, even though it sometimes wasn't welcomed, and she thought the world of my husband. She was a bit too needy, and relied too much on some of the guys at work for things she should have had friends or family do, or paid someone to do them. Even so, the employees who knew her might beneift from a service.

The dog was burned, too, but it came out of the house and someone took it to a vet. It lived a couple of days, but it took a turn and had to be put down. Doubly sad that Pam died, because the dog she went back in for was already out of the house. Sometimes it crosses my mind that she may not have wanted to live, really, but that's complete speculation, since I only know her from the outside looking in.

A sad story all around. Thanks for indulging me enough to let me share it here.

Karen

[Dogmama]

I'm surprised that the microwave hasn't been recalled yet. I read about it when I replaced my last microwave, about a year ago. The local appliance company said that GE knew about it and had corrected the problem in their newer microwaves. Sometimes it's cheaper for companies to pay off the consumer than to go through the expense of issuing a recall.

I'm glad you're OK Padres. My father died in a fire, so I have an unusually high fear of fire. I don't even allow candles in my house.

+1 on fire extinquishers and check them to make sure they're still charged.