Electricity – friend or foe?

In our daily lives, we constantly encounter electrical appliances. It is already impossible to imagine a home without a television, mobile phone, or computer. However, improper use of electrical appliances can lead to fire.

Fires can occur if the electrical wiring is faulty or if the owners violate certain rules for the operation of electricity. For example, when a large number of appliances are connected to the mains, the wires overheat, which can lead to the ignition of insulation. Strong heating of wires also occurs with poor contact, at the points where wires are joined together and connected to current receivers.

Incandescent lamps also pose a fire hazard. This is due to the high temperature of the glass bulb surface, which can reach +550°C. If an electric light fixture is wrapped in cotton cloth and connected to the mains, ignition can occur within 15 minutes. Therefore, it is forbidden to wrap or cover electric light fixtures with cloth or paper, as well as to make homemade lampshades from them. The danger of incandescent lamps also lies in the fact that when air enters the lamp bulb, the filament burns out.

All electrical consumers must be protected from short circuits and overloads. Fuses and circuit breakers, which are designed for a specific current strength, perform this function. However, there are still many cases where homemade fuses (bundles of wire wound on a plug, usually called "jumpers"), whose cross-section is several times larger than required, are used instead of factory-made fusible inserts. In this case, the fuse, accordingly, ceases to perform its functions.

It should be remembered that wires must not be tied in knots, joined by twisting, glued with wallpaper, or passed through walls and partitions without additional insulation. To prevent damage to wire insulation, it is not permitted to paint or whitewash cords and wires, to nail them, to fasten them to heating systems, or to use telephone or radio wires as current conductors. Electric heaters and other appliances must be connected to the mains only by means of plugs through socket connections. It is necessary to ensure that switches and sockets are always in good working order.

Inspector of State Fire Supervision and State Fire Safety Department of Miory District Department for Emergency Situations O.M. Girzha