The Fire Service is warning of the potential danger of electric blankets following a house fire that partially destroyed a Kaitaia home on Sunday.
Northland Fire Service volunteer Colin Kitchen said two elderly ladies were watching TV at about 8.30pm when they smelt smoke.
"They opened the door (to the passage) and saw flames shooting out of the bedroom."
Mr Kitchen said it appeared the fire was caused by the electric blanket, and the house wouldn't have been damaged to the extent it was if it had smoke alarms.
Regional fire safety officer Craig Bain said many manufacturers recommended sleeping under electric blankets.
Other safety steps included getting annual checks by registered service people, smoothing out the electric blanket so the coil inside it is not damaged, not putting heavy objects on top of them and not leaving blankets on high, or on all the time.
The fire was the fourth serious house fire in Northland in the past two weeks, and there have been several near misses.
Police are currently investigating two others as potential arson, while two Dargaville blazes have been accidental.
One was caused by someone playing with a lighter and another by a pot of oil left cooking on a stove.
"It's probably timely to remind people of all these problems and what we can do," Mr Bain said.
"You've just got to be vigilant all the time. It can only take a few moments for everything to turn to custard."
- NORTHERN ADVOCATE (WHANGAREI)
Electric blanket warning after fire
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