An unattended mosquito coil caused a fire at a family home.

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The Origin

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The family at the property had been outside on their balcony in the early evening. Members of the family suffer from bad reactions to mosquito bites, so they lit a mosquito coil and wore incense wristbands to prevent being bitten.

 

After a few hours the family returned inside to go to bed. They believed the mosquito coil was no longer alight because there was no smoke coming from the metal perforated case it was situated in.

 

Early the following morning the family was awoken to noises that sounded like someone was breaking in to their home. When they came downstairs to investigate, they saw their deck and rumpus room was on fire.

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Our Findings

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The fire occurred because the metal perforated casing allowed the heat to build up inside and localise it to a section of the plastic tub it was sitting on. As the heat increased at the metal casing, so did the plastics temperature and therefore resulted in a fire.