Acton Firefighters Extinguish Electrical Fire

ACTON, MA — An electrical fire in Acton could've been disastrous if firefighters didn't act as soon as they did. Monday's fire started in the wall of a home on Central Street. No one was injured and lucky for the residents of the home, the damage was contained to just the wall.

The department used the fire as a cautionary tale and a lesson in electrical safety.

The fire was called in after someone in the home reported a strange odor and noticed that the wall near an electrical outlet was hot. According to fire officials, the homeowner shut off the circuit breaker before firefighters arrived.

When fire crews opened the wall to investigate found a small fire burning inside the wall.

Acton fire and building officials determined the fire was caused by an open splice in the wiring —the electrical inspector noted that the outlet had been moved to make room for a forced hot water baseboard that had been installed. A space heater had been plugged into the outlet and had run for several hours the previous night. It is believed that the load drawn from the heater exposed the danger of the open splice, resulting in the fire, officials said.

Chief Hart reminds residents to only use a licensed electrician to move or relocate wiring in the home and to exercise extreme caution when using space heaters. There was also only one working smoke detector in the home, increasing the possible danger if the fire had occurred in the evening when residents were asleep.

Some tips from the chief:

• Never attempt to relocate or move electrical wires yourself. Only used a state licensed electrician to perform electrical work in the home.
• Never leave a space heater plugged in and/or operating overnight or when you are not home.
• Review the state literature on smoke and carbon smoke detector requirements in homes and call the fire department business line at 978-929-7722 if you are unsure if your home, rented or owned, meets the requirements.