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ELECTRICAL OVERLOAD: Firefighters quickly extinguished a fire under a manufactured home on West Delaware Road Wednesday morning. The trailer had four window air conditioners operating which overwhelmed its electrical system. Angi Turnpaugh
Overloaded circuits
Fire investigator urges residents to be more cautious
For the second time in a week, Logansport firefighters found themselves battling a fire caused by overloaded electrical circuits.
The Logansport Fire Department responded to a mobile home fire at 8:40 a.m. Wednesday at 3388 W. Delaware Road.
Fire investigator Ted Franklin estimated the trailer was at least 40 years old. Several alterations have been made to the structure over the years, including two additions, he said. The residents had four window air conditioning units running in an effort to stay cool.
“It was typical with what we’ve encountered so many times with a hot spell — an electrical overload,” he said. “It’s not designed to pull that many amps.”
Franklin is urging people to be more cautious, especially with record high temperatures.
“People need to be aware when a breaker trips or kicks out, it is kicking out because it is overloading,” he said. “When it kicks out it needs to be serviced by licensed electrician.”
That was also the case in a house fire Thursday night on North Street.
According to Franklin, the trailer’s insulation and sub-floor caught fire. Firefighters were able to contain the fire to the crawl space below the manufactured home. Although there were no visible flames inside the trailer, the interior sustained smoke damage.
Franklin estimated damage between $5,000 to $10,000. No one was injured.
“This is a common occurrence during these extreme temperature,” he said. “We’re expecting more because of the old housing stock in town. The wiring is out-dated and newer appliances consumes more electricity than it did 30 years ago.”
• Denise Massie is a staff writer at the Pharos-Tribune. She can be reached at 574-732-5151 or denise.massie@pharostribune.com.
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