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.