Electricity often gets blamed for house fires. Genuine electrical fires occur from a variety of causes such as overloads, short-circuits, arcing contacts, poorly terminated connections, cable damage and arcing, faulty or damaged batteries, faulty solar equipment, poor power quality (particularly high volts or harmonics), ‘dodgy’ appliances, etc.
An example of an electrical appliance causing fires is the recalled Beefeater BS28200 refrigerator. It has been reported by Building and Energy WA as causing seven fires in early 2023 and has been recalled by Product Safety, a part of the ACCC.
Building and Energy WA found that water entry to the main control board could lead to component failure and infers that this is the cause of the fires.
https://www.productsafety.gov.au/search-consumer-product-recalls/beefeater-refrigerators-beverage-chillers-single-double-door-multiple-fires-reported-updated-notice
An electrical fire investigation needs to look for an origin and cause and if this was an electrical appliance, if the appliance is part of a recall or if the appliance should be recalled.
PowerLogic’s Electrical Fire Investigation Training Course helps investigators identify the origin and cause(s) of electrical fires: https://www.powerlogic.com.au/product/electrical-fire-investigations/
