Woman warns others to check adapters for safety certification after fire in her wall – Kelowna News

UPDATE 2:30 p.m.

It appears the adapter that is being blamed for this particular fire was certified for sale by product testing group Intertek.

That testing firm, however, issued a safety notice related to the product over a risk of electrical shock in 2020.

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ORIGINAL 4 a.m.

An Okanagan resident is warning other homeowners to check their extension cords, adapters, and charging cables after she believes a cheap power bar caused a fire in her wall.

The woman says she was preparing for a trip out of town when she saw smoke and smelled burning wiring but couldn’t initially find the source. After checking all her electronics and plugs multiple times, she pulled out a six-outlet adapter that was plugged in behind a chair. When she turned it over, she noticed signs of scorching on the back.

That wasn’t the only damage, though. The wall outlet was also melted and had shorted out, causing a small fire in her wall. Luckily, she managed to put it out before it spread.

She called an electrician to repair the outlet and wiring. That’s when she learned that the cheap adapter she had picked up at a discount store was likely to blame. It did not have a Canadian Standards Association (CSA) or other safety certification.

The electrician told her he’s seen an increase in incidents caused by chargers and adapters that people often buy at discount stores or online.

“This has been a trend for several years, and typically it’s dollar stores bringing in offshore products that don’t have the proper certification,” says Paul Johnson, fire prevention officer with the Kelowna Fire Department.

He says there are various certifications, including CSA, ETL, and Underwriters Laboratories of Canada.

“Unless that product has one of those stamps, it should not be used in British Columbia,” notes Johnson. “With today’s society, everybody is shopping online more and more. Stores are shutting down, and you don’t really know the product you’re getting.”

Unfortunately, these products can still be bought in Canada.

He encourages consumers to do their homework and check for the certification stamps, but he also cautions that there have been cases of falsified stamps.

“My wife is a dollar store shopper herself, and we’ve had a couple of products come home that I caught before they were in use. We just threw them out or returned them,” Johnson adds.