In case you ever wondered why, here’s an article from today’s Minneapolis Star-Tribune that illustrates why bare light bulbs aren’t allowed in closets any more. The curious thing is why the person who couldn’t turn off her closet light didn’t just unscrew the bulb….
St. Paul firefighters rescued a woman early Thursday from an apartment fire ignited by a bare light bulb in a closet, authorities said.
Firefighters were first called to the two-story apartment building on California Drive on the city’s northern edge just after 1 a.m. While other firefighters kept the flames from spreading to the other seven apartments in the building, firefighter Fred Babekuhl and fire equipment operator Randy Villarreal rushed upstairs to an apartment above the fire, and discovered that the door was locked with a deadbolt. Using his shoulder, Villarreal broke down the hollow metal door, and Babekuhl searched until he found the woman in the bed. “She was confused and not totally coherent,” said Babekuhl, an eight-year veteran of the St. Paul Fire Department. “We wrapped her in a blanket because it was cold outside, and carried her out.”Every day we’re on duty we save lives one way or another,” he added. “But it’s not every day you can say you actually helped get someone out of a fire building.” The 95-year-old woman, Hazel Richards, was treated at United Hospital for smoke inhalation and was in stable condition. St. Paul Fire Marshal Steve Zaccard said that the tenant in the apartment where the blaze started wasn’t home at the time, but that she later told investigators she had been unable to turn off the closet bulb for more than 24 hours. Investigators say they believe that the hot bulb ignited clothes, which fell to the floor and ignited the rest of the closet. Zaccard estimated the damage to be $30,000.
“It ended up not being much of a fire,” he said. “But it could have had a very tragic result if our folks hadn’t gotten there in time.”
Replies
Put yourself in the tenant's place ... maybe a meek young girl ... might not have thought about unscrewing the bulb ... might have thought about it but didn't want to burn her fingers.
"Put your creed in your deed." Emerson
"When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it." T. Roosevelt
Likely never considered there was danger of fire.
J. D. Reynolds
Home Improvements
Wouldn't have been much of a danger with a 40W bulb, so long as there was no clothing, etc, within an inch or two. But it was probably a 100W bulb -- far more than a closet typically needs, but there's always a "more is better" philosophy at work.And the socket was probably the chain type and the chain broke or the "thunkit/thunkit" mechanism jammed. I don't know what's so hard about putting a 29-cent switch a couple of feet below the light, by the door, but it's rarely done.And hot 100W bulb, not changed in years, seized into the socket -- not something that would be easily be unscrewed.
So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable Creature, since it enables one to find or make a Reason for everything one has a mind to do. --Benjamin Franklin
"thunkit/thunkit"
Damn pros and yer industry jargin.
J. D. ReynoldsHome Improvements
Damn pros and yer industry jargin
Secret handshake-n-decoder ring, too . . . <G>Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
95? She could'nt reach the bulb, and had not enough stick to break it.
Parolee # 40835
The 95 year old woman lived upstairs from the apartment where the fire was.
I graduated from Evevlyn Wood speed reading, but musta missed the " Comprehension" exam...
Moi forno.Parolee # 40835
And comprenshun . . .wunnerful-ly.
Forrest
I cn ms evr thery otr lettr ad yu cn red ths,cz the brn, mks up 4,tose, tha ,r not thr.
Inna gadda da vida, is gonna suck, with out ale.Parolee # 40835
a screw-in fluorescent would've solved this problem...
Expert since 10 am.
$30k in damages and no injuries.
Not much of a fire.
Might be better off to make it against code to let people smoke in bed.