House fires - please read!

Very conscious of anything related to fires so if you haven't already received this email - please read.


House fires--please read!!!!!


Received from a friend who is in the insurance property business. It is well worth reading.

This is one of those e-mails that if you don't send it, rest assured someone on your list will suffer for not reading it. The original
message was written by a lady whose brother and wife learned a hard lesson this past week.

Their house burnt down.. nothing left but ashes. They have good insurance so the house will be replaced and most of the contents. That
is the good news.


However, they were sick when they found out the cause of the fire. The insurance investigator sifted through the ashes for several hours. He
had the cause of the fire traced to the master bathroom. He asked her sister-in-law what she had plugged in
the bathroom. She listed the normal things....curling iron, blow dryer.
He kept saying to her, 'No, this would be something that would disintegrate at high temperatures'. Then her sister-in-law
remembered she had a Glade Plug-In, in the bathroom.

The investigator had one of those 'Aha' moments He said that was the cause of the fire. He said he has seen more house fires started with
the plug-in type room fresheners than anything else. He said the plastic they are made from is THIN. He also said that in every case
there was nothing left to prove that it even existed. When the investigator looked in the wall plug, the two prongs left from the
plug-in were still in there.


Her sister-in-law had one of the plug-ins that had a small night light built in it. She said she had noticed that the light would dim and then
finally go out. She would walk in to the bathroom a few hours later, and the light would be back on again. The investigator said that the
unit was getting too hot, and would dim and go out rather than just blow the light bulb. Once it cooled down it would come back on. That is
a warning sign



The investigator said he personally wouldn't have any type of plug in fragrance device anywhere in his house. He has seen too many places
that have been burned down due to them.
 
HI Winston
no I said I had received the email and was very conscious about anything to do with fires so posted it. I hadn't actually onforwarded it by email but did post it to see whether it was bona fide.
I was after the reaction that Dave gave - I am not sure how to find out whether something is a hoax - now I have that website I can refer to.
Just out of interest - how many of you would have thought twice about forwarding the email - did you know where to find out if it is a hoax?
I am not sure whether the thread should be deleted or should be left there so people know it is a hoax?
thanks
 
Just grab a handful of text from any "warning read this" type email and plug it into Google. You'll soon know if it's legit or not.
 
As a general rule, I delete all of these emails that come through about warnings, stories, miracles, advice etc.

I usually get about 2 sentences in and realise they're crap. If it's just been forwarded on to you by someone else, who had it forwarded it on to them - it's clearly not first hand knowledge.

My sister is great for sending these things on! :rolleyes: If an email from her has any writing as opposed to just a funny pic, I delete it.
 
I don't think Raddles has lost any credibility whatsoever :confused:. She was just posting something in full from an email and stated that quite plainly. She did it in good faith, and I am more than happy to read these types of things. If they turn out to be hoaxes, so be it.

If we are all scared of posting because somebody might question our credibility, that would be a pity.

I wish somebody had posted something several years ago when my ebay account was hijacked before I knew what to look for. It would have saved me some time getting my account back to normal.
 
I wouldn't have forwarded this - but that's because I got suckered by one of these things nearly a decade ago. (Thankfully quite early on.) I figure once is OK, the second time is marginal, but if they get you three or more times you should be embarrassed. ;) Though I have a couple of friends who've been caught DOZENS of times :rolleyes:

This is absolutely the best advice I've ever seen on spotting hoaxes and nuisances messages, and should be compulsory reading for all people who are new to email. I forward it to everybody who sends me one of these things:

Ask Leo's Advice on forwarding emails
 
Credibility? WW, you're just so harsh. :) :p

Hoax or not:
- Raddles just reminded us about anything in our IP's that could cause a fire.
- About staying safe with electricity - and keeping tenants safe.
- About our insurance (fire and liability). Same one this year? Is it still a good deal? Have I got appropriate cover?

Thanks Raddles!

Cheers,
 
I forward things depending on who sent them to me.

i.e. Friends who are programmers or network administrators, no problem. Anyone else, friends of friends or 'acquaintances' or relatives who have only just learnt how to use a mouse, then I delete (or if I'm feeling really nice or just plain bored I might reply to them explaining why I'm not forwarding their email).

It still puzzles me how anyone can believe Microsoft is going to track all those emails and pay little cancer-riddled Timmy 5 cents for every email forwarded.
 
Hi there

yes I do agree it does depend upon what the material is - I have forwarded material that does relate to health or safety issues (where appropriate - for example there was an email about computer cleaning fluid and children dying from sniffing it) and whilst I might have been a duffer to post this about house fires, it did make us think about some of the things we had plugged in.

We actually did replace a night light that was looking a bit suspect as a result.
thanks
 
I always pay attention to these types of emails - who's to say that a plug-in can't start a fire? We know that halogen lights have started fires so it's not beyond the realm of possibility.

I particularly pay attention to any email that is about car-park safety, you know the ones that have a story of women leaving the mall at night and parking next to a van and getting abducted etc etc.

As of yet, my house hasn't burnt down and I've never been abducted from a parking lot.

Better to be safe than sorry.

I think Raddles was very thoughtful to post this email - if even one person is more vigilant about fire danger as a result then it is a good thing.
 
Thats interesting

When I used to work at which bank their insurance guys would tell you that story and swear it to be true.

So its had me snowed for years.

Personally, I prefer the ambi pur battery operated thing you stick in the dunny. Portable and its funny when someones sitting on the toilet and they get sprayed and give a yelp then come out smelling like flowers.

(I also always thought calling a fragrance 'scents of nature' for something you'd stick in a toilet was also an interesting choice of words)
 
who is it that has makes up all this cr@p?? someone very bored.

for me the story went off course when this investigating 'expert' hadn't even bothered to look in the power outlet yet.
 
(I also always thought calling a fragrance 'scents of nature' for something you'd stick in a toilet was also an interesting choice of words)

Just snorted with laughter and boss looked at me like I was insane. Pretended I was choking on my cuppa - back to work methinks.
 
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