Cheap really can be nasty

MELTED MESS: Somewhere in there is the multi-board that may have started Saturday's fire at Awanui's Mana Kai Honey Whare.

A multi-board and a dehumidifier are the major suspects as the cause of the fire that destroyed a large quantity of honey at Awanui's Mana Kai Honey Whare last week (Too much heat for honey, January 13). And when it comes to starting fires multi-boards have something of a history according to fire investigator/safety officer Craig Bain.

He said he had investigated at least 10 such fires over the last 12 months, adding that many people did not appreciate the potential risks of using them.

Once they had been in use for five years they should be discarded, he said, while it was very much the case that cheap really could be nasty.

"The better ones are more expensive," he said, "and are more likely to have in-built surge protection. They don't all have that."

Boards should also be discarded if power plugs did not fit into them snugly - "That's a bad sign" - should be kept clean (free of dust) and should not be overloaded.

"They don't have to be overloaded to malfunction, but they often are," he added.

"You might have one that powers the TV, DVD player, play station and Sky, and then come winter you plug in a heater as well and you could have problems."

Sera Grubb, who owns the Mana Kai Honey Whare with her partner Bobby Leef, said the multi-board that may have sparked the blaze there had certainly not been overloaded, being connected to only two appliances. Nor had it been dusty or wet, but she wasn't taking any chances of a repeat.

A multi-board that had provided power for two work stations and a fridge in the office had been replaced with separate power points.

Mr Bain added that multi-boards, and any electrical appliance, should have their cords cut off before being dispatched to the dump, in case anyone else was tempted to use them.