‘It will surprise the hell out of you’
You won’t be a fan of this fire hazard hiding in plain sight.
The wife of a longtime firefighter has issued a warning about the most dangerous, yet obscure part of the house that could spark a devastating blaze and burn a home “to the ground.”
“It will surprise the hell out of you, and no one ever guesses it,” the woman, Jess, said in her viral TikTok video, which has been viewed more than 2 million times.
“Exhaust fans in your bathroom. My husband is a firefighter of 17 years, and he calls this fire a house burner. In his opinion, it is the most dangerous fire to get started in your house.”
She went on to say the biggest danger in the overhead fan is that “no one ever thinks to clean it,” especially on the inside of its vent where the fan actually circulates.
“And when the fan shorts out, it gets hot enough to start a fire in the dust, and the fire actually goes up into the attic space, the crawlspace of the home, and the fire’s allowed to develop up over the ceiling and over the fire detectors,” Jess explained.
“And by the time anyone realizes there’s a fire, it’s usually too late.”
Experts at American Family Insurance corroborate the warning as well.
“Most of the time, details on the well-being of your fan are hiding in plain sight,” the company warns, noting that cleaning should be done with a wet cloth.
“Discoloration, odd sounds and smells, the fan itself slow to start up and dusty build up — these are all clues that you’re at risk of a fan malfunction or potential fire.”
Both the insurance company and Jess also urge not to leave the fan running for hours on end.
“Consider installing a twist-on timer switch that will turn the fan off automatically after a few minutes,” American Family advises.
“If you don’t have a timer, set one on your smartphone to remind you in 15 minutes to turn the fan off.”
