‘Electrical appliances a fire risk when you’re out of house’, says senior fireman
Senior Co Donegal fire officer Frank McDermott revealed how his own house could have been destroyed by fire when his own dishwasher caught fire.
He is now warning people not to put on their appliances when they are leaving their homes this Christmas.
Mr McDermott put on the dishwasher after lunch in his home in Rosebank, Moville, and left to return to work.
However, by the time he had reached the bottom of his housing estate, he had received a call from his wife, Celemma, saying the dishwasher was on fire.
“I went straight back to the house and there was smoke pouring out of the dishwasher,” said Mr McDermott.
“I opened it and slightly burned my hand. I wasn’t expecting it to be so hot, but I could see the flames inside. This wasn’t just smoke. The thing was on fire and it took off within a matter of minutes.”
Mr McDermott put out the fire using water in his house, after his wife had turned off the electricity.
“Thank God Celemma was in the house,” said Mr McDermott. “It was quick thinking on her behalf to turn off the power, as the electricity was generating the heat to get the fire going.
“Things could have been so different. There is no question that if she hadn’t have been in the house, it would have been on fire.
“It would have taken a few minutes for the kitchen units to go up. Then, the house would have been next.”
The father of three is now urging people not to leave their homes after putting on appliances, such as dishwashers, washing machines, and tumble dryers.
“Look, we’ve probably done this 100 times before, put on the dishwasher and left the house, but we are urging people not to do that,” said Mr McDermott. “In the run-up to Christmas, we are all using our appliances more and more.
“We’ve more dishes and we’re using the tumble dryers more, because we can’t get the clothes dried outside.
“Tumble dryers are probably a higher risk of going on fire, given the heat they generate and the clothes fibres inside them.
“Our dishwasher was older, but I’m sure there are a lot of people out there with similar dishwashers.
“We are urging people not to leave these appliances on when they leave the house, and, if it all possible, don’t put them on at night and go to bed — there is a huge risk if you are in bed.
“I know we all have fire alarms, nowadays, but if an appliance goes on fire when you are in bed, it will take time to get everyone organised and out of the house.”
