Gleaned from the report that the home did not have smoke or fire alarms except in the basement. That is just foolish, there was no religious requirement in the family’s faith to forego them (and if I understand mainstream Orthodox Jewish philosophy, it would be considered a duty to have such things, and probably the local rabbis are going to put the word out about it before long).
There was a catty comment about religion and the electric hot plate, which apparently being used to keep food warm during a Saturday sabbath observation, failed and caught fire. Unless you are going to “pan” (pun intended) crockpots, ordinary nonreligious people have this risk too.
I think it’s very foolish to leave stuff like that on, over night or when you’re not at home.
I know you are supposed to be able to leave a crockpot all day when you’re at work or whatever, but I would never do that.
They DO get warm on the outside, and I suppose a malfunction is always possible. Besides I have cats and who knows what mayhem they could cause.
I used my crockpot on the weekends only.
I don’t get the no smoke detectors either.