This burned-out house has a dramatically melted “smart” meter at the heart of the blackened areas–is the “smart” meter the source of the fire? The news item clearly states that the fire was located in the garage, yet the Fire Dept’s report says the fire was started in a bedroom with a candle. We find the discrepancy suspicious.
Click on each image in gallery below to see larger version.
Pingback: Melted smart meter at heart of SF house fire | EMF Safety Network
Amazing pics!!! Scary as hell!!! These things need to be recalled!!! I hope the owner of that building is suing. Can someone reach out to them and see if they can help take action to get smart meters recalled?
I agree, SF Fire Department needs to research cause of this fire and publish it’s findings. Please keep us updated on this.
Its hard to believe that Fire Departments are supporting “smart” meters, guess they have been ignoring photos like these!! thanks for sharing
Horrible. http://articles.sfgate.com/2011-11-18/bay-area/30417930_1_disabled-woman-smoke-inhalation-house-fire
But let’s leave the investigation to the professionals, eh? The picture shows only a melted plastic housing, >>which evidently melted/dripped onto the top of an *open* and very out-dated fuse box, with clothing and hangers nearby.
Was this room the point of ignition, or was that in the main body of the garage? What reason is there to speculate that the SmartMeter was the cause of this fire? Maybe a gust of wind blew a hangar into the open fuse box, which sparked the fire.
Dramatic photos, but to what end? Fear?
I say leave the investigation to the amateurs.
from wikipedia: “an amateur may be in a position to approach a subject with an open mind (as a result of the lack of formal training) and in a financially disinterested manner.”
The Department of Energy could have put all those dollars toward helping people upgrade their breaker boxes, wiring, and outlets *before* attaching “21st century meters” to homes with decades old wiring. That ship has sailed, so all we can do now is share good information and promote awareness (not fear) about the dangers of electromagnetic fields and faulty electrical systems, including Smart Meters and the accompanying wireless mesh network.
And on the other hand… A lack of formal training coupled with selective photography of the meter and the association with an anti-smart meter group suggests a serious investigative bias.
>> On another note: Does anyone have information on the compatibility of SmartMeters with older electrical systems? Is there any reason to believe that coupling with older systems might be inappropriate?
Richard,
It looks to me like the fire started at the meter. What I don’t understand is, why PG&E , the fire dept or the insurance investigators did not immediately remove that melted meter. That is clearly “evidence exhibit A”.
And your question about “older electrical systems” is stupid, and shows that you know nothing about electrical systems.
Any building that has “older electrical systems” will not affect the revenue meter in any way.
The meters are new and untested, but worse, installed by non-electricians who don’t know what they are doing.
That is how we troubleshoot, start at the source of the problem, if it is obvious. One can’t blame anything down line of the meter if it was the meter that melted.
The meter looked like one of those psychedelic glass pipes, possibly a hubba rock (crack) pipe. A piece of industrial art ! Thank you Amy for the good photos.
Hey, Richard, those photos weren’t selective, they were taken “blind” by extending my arm into a darkened hole in the side of the house, and shooting w/flash without knowing what I’d get. I tried to take enough to pan around the space, but I couldn’t see what I was getting. The place stank in a pungent, stick-in-yr-nostrils sort of way.
It sounds sometimes like you feel like you’re the only Voice Of Reason and Sense here, but you might extend some benefit of the doubt to others who’ve seen and read things you have not.
Just because the cover to the breaker panel was open, that would not expose any bus bars and probably was left open by the fire dept first responders. And what you call a “fuse box” was not, it was a circuit breaker panel which was not “out dated”. “Maybe the wind blew a plastic hanger into an open fuse box ? You’re right, you are not a professional investigator, so my advice to you is to say nothing at all.
“You’re right, you are not a professional investigator”
>>never said I was
“And your question about “older electrical systems” is stupid,”
>>that’s nice
“It sounds sometimes like you feel like you’re the only Voice Of Reason and Sense here, but you might extend some benefit of the doubt to others who’ve seen and read things you have not.”
>>there’s just too much speculation and too many fear-generating one-liners here for me to let it go. You (nonspecific) cherry pick your studies and cite data that “supports” (and I use the term loosely) your cause and won’t listen to a valid dissenting opinion. Runaway fear…Look at this tumor; Look at this melted meter…It’s all bad…They’re frying our brains with a 2.5 watt transmitter. Someone’s gotta pull back on the reigns. But I can’t beat my head against this wall any longer…
So long folks. Good luck with your agenda.
I believe Richard works for the Smart Metering company. Who else could be paying him to continuously throw a wrench in the discussion. Sometimes it takes people longer to wake up to the obvious, and then some people even longer. So long Richard.
@V.C (and @Richard) I have access to enough information about Richard to say that he is not likely to be working for any company in the smart metering business, unless they have gone to great trouble to hide the fact. He does not use a service to disguise where he is connecting to the internet, and he appears to lead a very regular life. Sorry, Richard, if this feels invasive.
I must emphasize, we do not check this sort of thing on the vast majority of commenters on this site. Only when there is some question raised by someone, or the comment looks fishy or abusive. There are are a great many visits from people working inside utilities, in states across the country as well as CA, but these folks do not tend to leave comments!
Sorry to see you go, Richard. If you felt it was your calling to modulate our fears, and thus tacitly acknowledge your point of view, consider that we also might have liked some similar acknowledgement.
@admin – I have acknowledged that some people may be EHS, and that more studies are worth doing. But I am not willing to acknowledge that these low-power wireless transmissions can “kill” people. I have asked reasonable questions which have in turn been shot down as “stupid”, and most posters seem to want to hold onto the claim that we are “being microwaved” and that these wireless signals are affecting everything from bees to plants to humans, even when *the data show far more uncertainty than they do any correlation*. Most posters here and on other EMF-related sites seem to be operating on the premise that correlation equals causation, drawing unsubstantiated conclusions, and that bothers me.
@VC: the admin is right on…I have absolutely no affiliation or stake in SmartMeter technology. I’m just a curious person with an interest in science. Question more.
Most people who post comments here are either sharing their personal stories of being harmed by microwave radiation (pulsed or steady), or are trying to share information to help others live happier, healthier lives.
If you showed a little less stubbornness, and weren’t trying so hard to be a devil’s advocate, there probably wouldn’t have been any name calling. I’m sure there are plenty of “Utility Lurkers” trying to surveil the movement and “show me the peer reviewed science” deniers who read this site and get a chuckle, or quickly leave fearing they might learn something that would seriously disrupt their personal paradigm.
You’re an outlier, and you probably get some satisfaction out of playing that position. You seem to have some intelligence, but your signal to noise ratio couldn’t be any lower.
You’re too kind.
I won’t be reading or posting here any more.
Goodbye.
I have it on good authority from qualified electricians that smart meters are being installed under full electrical load most EVERYWHERE – meaning they are being installed when the house’s electrical system is live, and when the main house breaker has not been thrown into the “OFF” position.
This has the potential to cause not only immediate fires but fires later on resulting from damage to the house wiring, the entire electrical circuitry, appliances and the meter base.
Amateurs who lack formal training may bring a fresh perspective to most issues – but not the ones doing the installing of smart meters, since they are doing the installing while the electricity to the home is on.
This risks causing arcing, physical or arc induced prong wrenching, and overheating resulting in compromise to the entire system, not to mention fire outbreak.
Smart Meters – something to be afraid of? http://www.squidoo.com/beware-of-smart-meters
Pingback: Meters that Endanger: Shocking Details from a Whistleblower | Stop Smart Meters!
Pingback: Southern Company Hides Electric Meter Dangers – Fires the whistle Blower and Hopes not to get Burned « Mississippi Coal
Well…Just like driving by the scene of a horrific accident, I couldn’t look away from this particular post…
As you probably know, the official FD report states the cause as a candle in a bedroom, which ignited the bedding. An all too familiar story, along with cigarettes in bed. So, I guess a hangar blowing into the open fuse box may not have occurred. I am, however, still stumped by Redi Kilowatt’s comment:
“Just because the cover to the breaker panel was open, that would not expose any bus bars and probably was left open by the fire dept first responders. And what you call a “fuse box” was not, it was a circuit breaker panel which was not “out dated”. “Maybe the wind blew a plastic hanger into an open fuse box ?”
Really?! That’s NOT a fuse box that the meter housing dripped into? …and there are no live contact points exposed? …and a ‘plastic hangar’ can’t spark a fire? Oh, that’s right…Redi K. added the ‘plastic’ part! Maybe some new kind of plastic… When I said hangar, I was referring to the scorched metal one in the picture, but I can see how Redi needed to twist my words to make the point.
Open flame candle v. Smart Meter…Professional assessment of the FD v. amateur speculation…
I don’t know, folks…
Pingback: Meter Fires | stopsmartmetersbc
THE GOVERNMENT CANNOT BE TRUSTED!!
[See this video and you will comprehend why!]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pRPBKJQnyU
Also, for your information, the Fire Departments and the governments cannot be trusted AT ALL! Their pensions are vested in this program, seeing as how the elite took 16,611 corporations [http://www.economyincrisis.org (Foreign Acquisitions)] that once employed the American people, out of the USA.
Wake up and stop allowing those who benefit from “the governing of you”, from making you ignorant anymore!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pRPBKJQnyU
Its difficult to trust that Fire Departments are supporting “brilliant” meters, surmise they have been disregarding photographs like these!! a debt of gratitude is in order for sharing.