Man Claims Nintendo Wii Started House Fire

[JayRPG]

Also mobile home might be a clue.

It might not have had anything to do with the wires, doesn't mean there wasn't a power surge that didn't bust a capacitor or something, mobile homes aren't exactly known for their 5 star electrical reliability.

$10 says he wasn't using a surge protector, if this turns out to be real and not insurance fraud.

 

[Pinky's Brain]

One in a million odds are met one in a million times on average.

 

[CrystalShadow]

Yeah... Uhm... so?

It's a device powered by electricity, that produces heat as a side effect of it's primary function. (and also contains a battery).

That's an innate fire risk both simply because of the electricity, and the heat.

It was bound to happen sooner or later. Just as sooner or later someone's TV or PC will catch on fire, or some other random piece of electronics.
Chances are, there are other consoles that have caused fires in the past somewhere in the world...
Hopefully not often, but I mean, this is the only account of a Wii catching fire in something like 100 million consoles sold... So...

Mobile phones and laptop PC's have considerably worse records in that regard.
(Though in both cases the main culprit can be traced back to lithium Ion batteries. - A definite explosion hazard, and therefore restricted on aircraft for fairly good reasons.)

 

[keniakittykat]

Trailer dweller from Colorado says his wii caused a fire, eh? I smell shenanigans.

 

[IamLEAM1983]

Ten to one that the electrical wiring, if not the power strip that was used, was faulty. It's a mobile home, it's not like some contractor's gonna go and make sure everything's all nice and kosher! Heck, a lot of regular homes have terrible wiring oversights that can be credited to the old owner's brother-in-law with electrical tape and a few plastic caps going "Aw, fuck it, that'll do". So why not a mobile home?

I'm reminded of the first few months I spent in my current house. The fuse box dated back to the forties and we had express orders not to start the toaster and microwave at the same time at the risk of popping a fuse.

So we move in, doot de doo, I plug in my old beige PC from that era, start it - and blam. PSU turned into a smoking pile of overheated metal in one second flat.

 

[Redlin5_v1legacy]

perfect opportunity to post this

Good post sir. I hand over one of my internets to you.

OT: If the Wii truly was a major source of house fires, we would have heard it before this. I always dust my consoles and PC every 5 or so months in case I do stupid things like leaving them on for more than 48 hours.

 

[happyninja42]

Gee, an electronic device potentially caused a fire. What are the odds of that?

 

[Quellist]

Well the Xbox was bulletproof, I guess it seems the Xbox 360 is fireproof. I wonder what superpower the Xbone will eventually display?

Captcha: "What is for dinner?" Apparently "Double portions of cock" wasn't the right answer

 

[Lightknight]

"All I did was tape match box scratch pads on a DVD and throw a box of matches in the guts of the Wii along with some oil containers. Just turned it on and left the home."

Is it possible that the Wii burst into flames? Sure, it's an electronic device and electricity can start fires. Is it likely? Not at all. Over 100 million units sold and almost no reports of fire. This guy would have won the lottery of implausibility.

 

[OldNewNewOld]

First time reading that a Nintendo console started a fire. I would understand if it was some old nVidia card, but not the Wii.

 

[MajorTomServo]

My money is on a (literal) bug getting in the console, short-circuiting something, and having his body catch fire.

Don't know how flammable the inside of a Wii is though. Maybe the bug brought friends?

 

[RicoADF]

This kinda crap is one reason why I like actual cutoff switches (easy to reach too) for all of my electronic stuff. I'm starting to buy more and more power strips with individual switched outlets. Despite energy concerns, electronics makers are obsessed with putting in more power hungry "standby" features. (And spoiling people into wanting those conveniences.)

I'll give the UK props for this: having wall outlets built in switches and mandatory fused plugs are smart design choices.

That's something I found weird when visiting the US, here in Australia all wall sockets etc have switches for obvious safety reasons, does the US simply not understand simple safety regulations?

 

[Hairless Mammoth]

This kinda crap is one reason why I like actual cutoff switches (easy to reach too) for all of my electronic stuff. I'm starting to buy more and more power strips with individual switched outlets. Despite energy concerns, electronics makers are obsessed with putting in more power hungry "standby" features. (And spoiling people into wanting those conveniences.)

I'll give the UK props for this: having wall outlets built in switches and mandatory fused plugs are smart design choices.

That's something I found weird when visiting the US, here in Australia all wall sockets etc have switches for obvious safety reasons, does the US simply not understand simple safety regulations?

Dude, we use an archaic system of measurements (affectionately referred to as "freedom units") and have so many lobbyists and part-time corporate executives holding political office that it's a wonder we even still have a decent safety record for many things. It's basically up to your common sense on a lot of things over here, because it's a toss up between whether a regulation was in place truly for safety, or to benefit corporations' and/or unions'/professionals' well being. (Not to say unions are all bad, but I've seen/heard of many cases where a regulation seemed to only add time to a job.)

I don't know how many of these are being installed, but I'm seeing more and more advertisements and store displays for outlets with built in USB chargers. Again, no switch to shut off the thing when not in use, so a fault like (potentially in) this Wii could, well, you get the picture. Also, the power drain while idle isn't much, but it adds up when there are thousands in existence. If I ever move into a house with them, first thing I'm doing is taking them out (and maybe putting in GFCIs just to spite fate).

 

[Scarim Coral]

My money is on a (literal) bug getting in the console, short-circuiting something, and having his body catch fire.

Don't know how flammable the inside of a Wii is though. Maybe the bug brought friends?

That seen plausible-


I think it could make sense since he was watching Netflix with that console. Maybe it got overheated too much despite he had turn it off?

 

[SmugFrog]

Colorado Springs-resident Trevor Pellegrin claims that his Nintendo Wii recently started a fire in his mobile home.

Not a mobile home in the traditional sense, but an RV according to the news report. Also, the firefighters didn't say the Wii caused the fire; just the man making the claim. It really looks like some kind of accelerant was used; how else would you explain the plastic melting so badly in such a way and being contained to one area. I really hope they do chemical testing on this.

Captcha: Yeah right.

 

[RealRT]

Wii: It's so bad it burns down your home, kills your family and rapes your dog.