While fire safety warnings are usually related to grilling and campfire safety practices and general reminders about overheating and hazardous candle decorations, the statistics of the last year instead show that the main culprits of fires are domestic appliances.

“Domestic appliances have been the biggest cause of fires in our portfolio this year. The most hazardous of them are refrigerators, followed by ovens and dishwashers,” said Dagmar Gilden, Seesam’s Home Insurance Product Manager, about the most hazardous domestic appliances.

Exploding toy cars and obsolete devices

According to the insurer, other devices and domestic appliances can also cause fires. For example, a fire was caused by the electrical system of a whirlpool bath last year, resulting in damage to the bath and the surrounding interior finish. The amount of the damage was nearly 8,000 euros. Boilers and toasters have also caught fire.

Batteries are hazardous devices that are involved in various insured events as a main culprit. Laptop batteries and power banks have caught fire when charging. “In the latter case, the fire was extinguished quickly enough and the amount of the damage was around 2,000 euros. We also know a case where a toy car caught fire and exploded indoors. Fortunately, the family was at home, the damage was quickly limited and nobody got hurt. Regardless of swift action in this case, the floor needed to be replaced, which cost 2,000 euros,” said Gilden about damage related to batteries.

According to the insurer, the average amount of damage in an event caused by a domestic appliance or device amounts to 20,000 euros. However, the biggest amount of damage this year was as high as 100,000 euros, and in this event, the refrigerator – dubbed the most hazardous domestic appliance – was the culprit. Due to the refrigerator catching fire, the entire private residence suffered fire, soot and water damage.

“In these cases, the main factors are the age of the device, insufficient maintenance, incorrect application, and overload. For example, the space behind the refrigerator should be cleaned of dust and dirt at least once a year, and all sorts of weird noises that the looming failure of a domestic appliance is causing should never be ignored,” noted Gilden.

If the house or apartment has old electrical wiring, extreme care should be taken when using all domestic appliances and the electric kettle, toaster, charger and other devices should be unplugged immediately after use every time. In general, every person should ensure that the electrical system of their home is in good order and not overloaded.

Even a plugged-in charger can cause a fire

“However, not all fires are caused by old devices. Situations where the device itself is simply faulty are not rare. Strong winds also often cause power cuts and voltage fluctuations, which may in turn affect the operation of domestic appliances. Domestic appliances that are not meant for continuous operation should definitely be unplugged before a storm hits,” recommended Seesam’s representative.

The insurer notes that people also fail to notice the hazard in chargers, which very many people keep constantly plugged in, so they can conveniently just connect the cable to their phone. For the sake of safety, however, the charger should always be unplugged after charging.

“The cause of the fire may vary, but we can never stress the importance of smoke and carbon monoxide detectors enough. These alarm devices ensure the possibility of avoiding the worst in an accident. In our experience, the amount of damage in cases where fires are detected swiftly thanks to operational detectors is within 5,000 euros. However, when the detectors are old, not functioning or not installed, the results are quite sad and we even know a case where a fire that started from the wiring in a refrigerator caused the whole house to burn down,” Gilden noted on the importance of a functioning smoke detector.

When it comes to extinguishing a fire, the very first minutes are essential, which are generally spent in panic on the phone or finding the right size of bucket and waiting for the rescue team. The insurer therefore recommends ensuring that homes are also equipped with fire extinguishers in addition to detectors.

“The saying goes that in the first minute, a litre of water is used for extinguishing the fire, 10 litres in the second minute, and almost 100 litres in the third. This gives a good idea of how fast fire spreads,” said Gilden.

Extinguishing a small fire with an extinguisher takes 5-10 seconds on average, meaning that a swiftly detected fire can be managed in a few seconds with domestic alarm and fire extinguishing devices.