Small Town News

Light bulb sparks Burnet fire; none injured

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An early morning electrical fire at Creekside Townhomes, 103 N. Hill St. in Burnet, displaced tenants Wednesday and caused an estimated $40,000 in damages.

No one was injured, an official said.

The fire originated from a bedroom light fixture inside an uninhabited apartment in a four-unit, single-story building, said Burnet Fire Marshall John Erskine.

Most likely, a light bulb with wattage that exceeded the fixture's maximum had slowly deteriorated the wiring over time and sparked the fire around 2:30 a.m., he said.

"At this point in the investigation it appears it was an electrical malfunction," Erskine said. "What we're thinking is that it had too large of a light bulb installed."

The three elderly residents connected to the burned unit all managed to leave in time and were not treated for smoke inhalation.

Family of the recently deceased tenant had moved furniture from the apartment earlier in the day, Erskine said. The fire burned personal belongings and scorched the bedroom walls but the structure remained in tact.

"From what the (fire department) said...had the bed not been moved out, the whole building would have burned down," said Stephanie Dokupil, Creek-side manager.

Smoke was aired from the building Wednesday and tenants in the three connected units were to return to their apartments on Friday, she said.

Erskine urged tenants and homeowners to double-check the wattage rating of light fixtures before installing a new bulb as it can lead to electrical dangers down the road.

"Of course, these things don't happen overnight, but they build up over time," Erskine said. "As we all get older, our eye sight gets worse and a lot of us equate that to rooms not being bright enough-- so we put in higher wattage bulbs."

Burnet Fire Department and the Burnet Volunteer Fire Department responded to the call, assisted by the Marble Falls Fire Department.



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© 2010 Burnet Bulletin Burnet, Texas. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from DAS.

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