Charging devices overnight can be a fire hazard

An electric smoking device charger started a Boone County home fire early Friday morning, a county fire official said..

The fire caused an estimated $100,000 worth of damage.

Boone County Fire’s Asstistant Chief Gale Blomenkamp said after tracking the fire damage, officials were able to confirm the fire originated in the kitchen where a smoking device was charging.

“Duplicating this plugged into an outlet in the kitchen, on kitchen cabinet, the cord being plugged into an electronic smoking device, the fire actually started within this portion of the cord,” Blomenkamp said.

He said a working smoke detector and closed bedroom doors are what saved the two residents lives. “Without those, we believe it would have been a double fatally fire,” Blomenkamp said.

He said the fire could have been prevented and recommends unplugging devices at night.

“If you want to charge in the evening, unplug that stuff before you go to bed, so there’s no draw on that,” Blomenkamp said.

According to the National Fire Association, there were 15 E-Cigarette fires in 2015.

Blomenkamp also said to be sure to chargers are not faulty and are assigned to the device you are charging.

“Make sure that cord is rated for whatever device that you’re using. There’s a lot of devices that are interchangeable and that device may not be designed for that big of draw,” Blomenkamp.

Several home insurance companies also have some tips:

Keep your chargers and devices away from hot and cold temperatures When there is a break in the cord, it’s time to get a new one Unplug your chargers when they are not being used