Zanesville Fire Department seeks to educate community on electrical safety
Assistant Chief Doug Hobson teaches community members about the dangers of multi-plug adapters.
July 29, 2019
State Certified Fire Safety Inspector/Fire Investigator, Assistant Chief Doug Hobson with the Zanesville Fire Department is trying to teach the community about electrical outlet and extension cord safety following several fires in recent weeks.
“Just in the last couple weeks, we had the multi-plug adapter and we had the air conditioner ran off of a zip cord, just in one week,” said Hobson. “So, I mean, it happens all the time.”
Hobson especially stresses avoiding the usage of multi-plug adapters without GFI protection.
“Multi-plug adapters are not grounded. They don’t have a GFI protection on them,” said Hobson. “Basically, what you’re doing is you’re taking an outlet and you’re making it six, and now we’re just overloading everything in our homes.”
The only exception Hobson makes to multi-plug adapters is if they have GFI protection.
Additionally, Hobson advises avoiding zip cords, which he essentially describes as a lamp cord with a few outlets attached to the end.
“I know you can get these for 99 cents, but they’re just so cheap,” said Hobson.
When doing code inspections at schools, Hobson said he will take a knife to any zip cords he sees due to the fire hazard they pose.
Instead, Hobson promotes the usage of surge protectors.
“So we recommend surge protectors, not to be used with multi-plug adapters — those shouldn’t be used at all,” said Hobson.
Even then, Hobson said surge protectors don’t work 100 percent of the time, mostly dependant on where they are manufactured.
In addition to outlet safety, Hobson cautions residents to be aware of what is being plugged into their outlets, specifically with air conditioning units.
Hobson said air conditioners should never be plugged into multi-plug adapters or zip cords, and the grounding component should always be used.
He explained that he has seen people cut the third prong of a grounded air conditioner plug in order to make it fit into a non-grounded socket with two prongs.
Many electrical fires Hobson has responded to were as a result of such practices.
