Wes Groleau wrote in :

On 01-25-2013 18:27, Doug Miller wrote:
Well, what*would* you expect to happen when insulation that has been dried up and
embrittled by excessive heat flakes off of the wires, resulting in electrical arcs between the
exposed conductors?

I would expect a circuit breaker to trip.

I would expect an *arc fault* breaker to trip. But a standard circuit breaker may or may not trip --
it depends on how much current the arc is carrying.