Faulty flatscreen TVs starting house fires

Televisions were found to have ignited almost 70 house fires in the past five years, with more than half of those causing extensive damage. But other appliances, including heaters and clothes dryers, contributed to a much larger proportion of the 5251 fires started by electrical equipment in the period. Surfers Paradise fire station officer Mark Gribble said a flatscreen television left in stand-by mode was the cause of a house fire at Mermaid Waters last week. When fire crews arrived, the house was heavily smoke-logged to waist height and flames were coming out of the window. The house was smoke damaged leaving the owner with a clean up bill likely to run into thousands. Last year, thousands of German-made Loewe television sets were recalled in Australia because of the potential fire risk.


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