Posted on 12/23/2010 2:09:46 PM PST by NRG1973
A compact fluorescent light bulb (CFL) is to blame for an accidental electrical fire in Hornell Wednesday morning, said Steuben County Fire Investigator Joe Gerych.
“Those are the lights everybody’s been telling us to use,” he said. “It blew up like a bomb. It spattered all over.”
A CFL on the ceiling burst, said Gerych, and gas inside the CFL bulb helped start the fire. He added exploding CFLs are rare.
The North Hornell Fire Department responded to a call from the McNeill residence, 7185 N. Main St. Ext., Hornellsville, a little before 7 a.m. Wednesday, said North Hornell Fire Chief Mike Robbins.
(Excerpt) Read more at eveningtribune.com ...
Let's get rid of good cheap light bulbs and replace them with toxic mercury-filled exploding bulbs to put in our landfills. I doubt if that many people are going to drive 40 miles to the nearest designated curly-cue deposit center and waste all that gasoline.
If they start up with the garbage nazis like they have in Britain, then I see a lot of these bulbs ending up in neighbor's garbage or on the side of the road where they can leak into the streams.
Every time an enviro-nut gets their way, the world becomes, poorer, less free, less safe, and sometimes MORE polluted.
Yes, but you may have to hide them from the “green police” when they come searching door-to-door.
***I’ve had at least two sputter and spark before burning out LONG BEFORE the life stated on the package.***
Same here. They go flicker, flicker POP! One lasted about thirty days. They do NOT last near as long as advertized.
I have used compact fluorescent light bulbs for years with no problem.
I’ll bet an incandescent bulb never exploded and caused a fire. It may have been in contact with a flammable object, or may have been filled with gasoline, (remember in the prison movies?) but they never exploded on their own.
I got mine. These CFL bulbs are a real joke. Some cannot be used in enclosed fixtures and I have a few that must match the decor. Some when turned on are dim and takes a while to get up to wattage. And while they do they are not the proper kelvin. And my biggest complaint is how to discard. Damn the rotten communists and environmentalist. Ruined America.
A CFL on the ceiling burst, said Gerych, and gas inside the CFL bulb helped start the fire.Huh?
A fluorescent lamp tube is filled with a gas containing low pressure mercury vapor and argon, xenon, neon, or krypton.Wikipedia article
Argon, xenon, neon, and krypton are all inert gases. They aren't flammable.
Compact Fluorescent Recalls and Consumer Advisories
Compact Fluorescent "end of life" incident
Great picture and great caption!
There have been problems with plastics in the cfl’s over heating/melting.
They can explode pretty well when given a strong enough power surge, but even then they aren't apt to fail in such a way as to produce an ignition hazard that wouldn't be present from normal operation. In fairness to the CFL in this story, it's entirely possible that a power surge precipitated the ignition.
The bulbs are made in China, no telling what is REALLY in them.
That was one of my first thoughts as well. The investigator did not know what he was talking about because the gas is not flammable. The truth of the matter is that the power supply in the CFL bulbs can burn up and cause a fire. I have seen one that burned up. It is only lucky that it did not start a big fire. There are pictures on the internet of these things burning up. The old bulbs were much safer. There is no question about that.
Made in China. May Repubs repeal, repeal. . .(not holding my breath, mind you. . .
Your first two links are 7 and 8 years old respectively. Certainly not current info.
We’re planning to trick the green fascists by using these in visible places (outside, patio, motion detector....).
We’ll have to keep our blinds shut since we’re at ground level on a busy street, and don’t want anyone reporting us -— that there’s a warm glow inside. Even though we mostly live near conservatives, there is a busy-body comrade or two.
We’ve got almost enough stockpiled to last the rest of our lives. At the rate it’s going though, who knows if we’ll be able to even afford the electricity.
Wow, a story out of Hornell makes news on FreeRepublic!
I was wondering how long before someone noticed that the bulbs are filled with inert gas.
My recollection (admittedly, from many years ago) is that fluorescent tubes must be filled with an inert gas, along with the mercury vapor, in order to operate at all.
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