Oy! Flatscreens burning down the house
By Steven Kim 
posted Mar 5th 2008 2:46PM
posted Mar 5th 2008 2:46PM
Australia's Courier Mail news is reporting that flatscreen TVs are responsible for 70 house fires over the past five years. But TVs have a long, long way to go if they want to achieve "most deadly home gadget" status (radioactive gases notwithstanding): over the same period, 5251 fires were started by other electrical appliances, including hair dryers and heaters. No word on how many of the fires were caused by failures in the TVs as opposed to shoddy installation or draping fabrics over an Ambilight or Aurea LCD to "set the mood." But if you really need to balance safety concerns with your desire for a flatscreen, we suggest either putting a fire extinguisher near your entertainment center or installing an AQUiVO TV.[Via WatchingTVOnline, Image courtesy Prosac]
Actually the amount of fires I've seen caused BY the TV is almost none. I did have a TV catch fire that caught the house on fire but that was because the Comcast tech stapled the cable wire TO the house electrical wire. That heated the cable which heated the TV and *p00f*.
99.999% of the time electrical fires are from overloading the main which is big during when we get a heat wave and the owner starts dumping AC's allover and overloads everything OR its because of overloading outlets and extension cords. Also those pesky power strips with EVERYTHING plugged into it, heating up, gathering dust on a plush carpet.
For the most part - most of these types of fires are the fault of a human, usually but not always the homeowner. As far as random explosions and combustion from home electronics, other than sony batteries, not many. Of course where I am.
Well, I'm not sure about the leading causes of home fires in Australia, but in the U.S., far and away the most common cause of fires is cooking, with almost 1/3 of house fires caused by it. An average of 120,000 house fires started that way each year in the U.S. between 2000 and 2004.
Keep a fire extinguisher within easy reach of the kitchen, and never leave anything unattended on the stove!
http://www.nfpa.org/itemDetail.asp?categoryID=952&itemID=23186&URL=Research%20&%20Reports/Fire%20statistics/Major%20causes%20of%20fire&cookie%5Ftest=1&cookie%5Ftest=1