Another wet FIRE.

[DSB]

SALEM — The Pickering School condominiums on North Street were heavily damaged in a fire early yesterday morning.

The two-alarm blaze at 181 North St., an 1893 red-brick building near the Peabody line, was confined to one condo, causing damage estimated at more than $150,000. Other condos had heavy smoke and water damage.

"He's got some major heat damage in there," said Deputy Fire Chief John Munroe. "I'd say they're almost completely wiped out."

The condo owner, Douglas Williams, said he had recently completed building a new kitchen, putting in new floors and other major renovations. A distraught Williams said he left for work only minutes before the 8:30 a.m. fire broke out.

"I had left 20 minutes before it happened," he said. "If I had been there another 20 minutes, I would have been able to put it out." He said he kept a fire extinguisher in his home.

In addition to all his possessions, Williams said he lost a pet, a 15-year-old Amazon parrot named "Big," which died in the heat and smoke.

There were several tenants in the brick building at the time of the fire, but no injuries were reported. Three firefighters — Scott Hebert, Dan Saffer and Charles Campanaro — were treated at the scene for minor injuries.

The blaze started in what firefighters described as the living area of a large, open room, possibly near a 120-gallon fish tank, which broke open.

"It started by the fish tank," Williams said, "so I'm guessing (the cause) had something to do with that."

Fire investigators have not determined the cause nor origin.

"They're having (wiring to the fish tank) checked out, but they're not sure it caused the fire," Munroe said.

Maria Reid, who lives below Williams' condo, said she first heard "an incredible amount of water" coming from above. She went to her second level to shut windows from what she assumed was a heavy rain only to find the kitchen ceiling coming down from a torrent of water. She then ran upstairs into a hallway full of smoke, she said.

Her condo was heavily damaged by smoke and water. "Ours is completely gone," she said.

Other condos in the building had water and smoke damage.

The fire in Williams' condo smoldered for a while, firefighters said, producing a thick, acrid smoke. There was an intense heat inside, Munroe said, possibly heightened by the brick walls and thick, multi-paned windows.

[germy]

exactly why my tank is going to basement. It's shame, we have to be careful.

[DSB]

Originally Posted by germy

exactly why my tank is going to basement. It's shame, we have to be careful.

He lives down the street from me too.

[Doug1]

Smoke detector is not a bad idea

Bummer on the damage, loss of the tank and the bird

[xtopher]

whoa total deja vu for me

[lizardarm]

shivers down spine. i had a close call once, luckily i was home

[DSB]

Just a reminder, A GFI is "NOT" a load circuit breaker, and a circuit breaker is not a GFI. They are two "VERY" different things.
A ground fault interupter (gfci) sences power at ground or neutral(this is where most of our problems ocurre), and then it trips, "it does not care how many amps you are pulling through it". Where as a 20 amp breaker will trip if you pull over 20 amps. You can have a 20 amp gfi, but you need to know the diff. between the three. A 20 amp gfi will trip upon load and/or a ground fault, a 20 amp breaker will trip on the load only, a gfi will only trip on a ground fault.
I hope this helps a little?

P.S. One GFI will protect "all" down stream outlets if wired correctly.

[skeety]

Originally Posted by DSB

P.S. One GFI will protect "all" down stream outlets if wired correctly.

and what is correctly? Can you elaborate?

This thread, and your previous story have me scared Sh**less!

I love my tank. VERY much. But if it causes me the loss of my home, I'd grow a hatred deeper than any other I've experienced in life. I've been thinking about a new skimmer, or new lights.

But my goals are now officially shifted. I want to do whatever I can to make sure this NEVER happens to me. So I've been looking into putting in GFI outlets. But your last post leads me to believe this is not enough? So any further help would be greatly appreciated.

[VWD]

Skeety, Your coffee pot can burn your house down, Thinks happen , I don't think it is something to really worry about . Just do what You can not to overload Your wall sockets and have good breakers.

[skeety]

Originally Posted by VWD

Skeety, Your coffee pot can burn your house down, Thinks happen , I don't think it is something to really worry about . Just do what You can not to overload Your wall sockets and have good breakers.

CRAP!!! I left the coffee pot on!!!


Seriously Vince, thanks. I guess you're right. Just read about a few on here in the last month, just has me paranoid.

I guess what I'm worried about is...while yes, coffee pot can burn my house down too...some of the companies that make our reef's equipement aren't as .. "Quality" oriented as GE (or other coffee pot companies).

I hear how RIO pumps are known for burning up. Makes me wonder who else is selling me crappy electrical components.

but I guess you're right. Que sera, Sara.

But I guess putting in some GFI outlets still might not be a bad idea?

[DSB]

Originally Posted by skeety

and what is correctly? Can you elaborate?

This thread, and your previous story have me scared Sh**less!

I love my tank. VERY much. But if it causes me the loss of my home, I'd grow a hatred deeper than any other I've experienced in life. I've been thinking about a new skimmer, or new lights.

But my goals are now officially shifted. I want to do whatever I can to make sure this NEVER happens to me. So I've been looking into putting in GFI outlets. But your last post leads me to believe this is not enough? So any further help would be greatly appreciated.

There are a couple of ways to do it, IMO the easiest and best way is to change the breaker in the panel. Find the breaker that feeds the tank, and get a GFCI breaker that matches your load center (ie: square D.etc.) and amprage rating, "do NOT exceed the amprage of the original breaker" it is very easy to change it out, and the breaker will come with instructions on how to install it. The other way is to install a GFI outlet BEFORE or AT your tank's power supply outlet, this will protect everything down stream of that outlet if wired right! Instructions will come with the GFI outlet.(again easy to do) There is a slight drawback with either GFI, They will trip at around 2 milliamp (two millionths of an amp) and that's what makes them good, they trip before anyone gets hurt or your house burns down. (One other thing, if they trip more than a couple times they burn out) The bad side of this is if it trips because of a drop of water or a bad piece of equipment and your not around to reset it, well you know what is going to happen to the fish. But I would rather lose my tank, than my house anyday!! Gfi's are VERY sensitive to power feedback and will pop at the first hint of it.
IMO, A TANK WITHOUT GFCI IS A "FIRE OR ELECTRICUTION" WAITING TO HAPPEN, IT'S NOT A MATTER OF IF, JUST WHEN!
Gfi breakers and outlets are cheap $10-$20 if you are not comfortable doing it yourself, hire someone! For a hundred bucks you can sleep at night, knowing if something leaks your not going to burn down!! or if you put your hand in the tank your not going to get ZAPPED. One other thing about getting ZAPPED, it can KILL YOU HOURS LATER, It throughs the bodies electrical system off and can cause a heart attack several hours after getting ZAPPED!
You asked and there you have it.
Anything that trips the GFI, JUNK IT!
Check all plugs once a month for crossion, feel the wires for heat, listen for noise in pumps that is unusaul, buy the best power supply equipment you can get (anything YELLOW cords, gang boxes, etc.) are made for water. Cover your power strips with a small piece of plastic or rubber so water can't leak into them. If you look at the lighting you have for your tank, when you bought it the retailer said great for reef tanks, but you might have noticed when you got it the MFG. said not for saltwater use. That's because UL has not approved it in a salt water enviroment, it may provide the light we need but the corossion and conductivity of saltwater is more than they want to take liabilaty for so keep an eye on the socket too. It's all easy to do, and takes very little time. Pease of mind is PRICELESS!
I hope I didn't bore you.
[img]file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Administrator/Desktop/fish1/Image(44).jpg[/img]
On the left is a typcial GFI on the right is a typical outlet, the standard outlet on the right is rated at 15 amps, the GFI is rated at 15 amps neither one will TRIP at 15 amps that is just the load they can handel. They are not a load breaker. The GFI only trips at a GROUND or A GROUND fault. You can see below how to hookup a GFI to protcet up to 4 down stream, standard outlets.
[img]file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Administrator/Desktop/fish1/gfi1.JPG[/img][img]file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Administrator/Desktop/fish1/gfi.jpg[/img]

[versivix]

What do you think busted the tank? The heat Im assuming?

[DSB]

Originally Posted by versivix

What do you think busted the tank? The heat Im assuming?

I think the fire started in the stand under the tank, then the tank collasped, bad pump, power strip, water drip who knows. I do know a GFI, would most likley have prevented this fire.

[Whale4]

As a HVAC tech I deal with allot of electricity on a daily basis. And if you need anymore proof than above, I've had a 72 BF tank for 6 months up untill 1 month ago I was unprotected, I installed a 10$ GFCI lead cord into my main outlet, well long story short, on Labor day my tank leaked all 72 gallons out and luckily for my brand new Orbit satillites pumps and 4 other familys in my complex the GFI tripped and saved a bad situation from turning into a deadly situation. think of them as CHEAP insurance

[Whale4]

PS heres what I was running only difference is that I got mine from a supply house for discount http://acmehardware.com/product_detail.aspx?sku=5917596