"jamesgang" wrote in message
news:d36a80f8-3be9-4e82-91cf-'

stuff snipped

I've always thought that stove/ranges should have an auto shutoff timer
feature. If the over/burners are on without any changes to the total power
draw for more than 4 hours the whole thing should shut off. Bet that would
prevent a fair number of house fires.

I think you're absolutely correct, so much so that I put my toaster oven on
a 30 minute spring-wound timer outlet after it failed to shut off and nearly
did burn the house down. I had put some english muffins in and went
downstairs to look for something and when I heard the smoke detector, the
kitchen was already engulfed in thick smoke and the muffins were little
black hockey pucks. Of course, a 220VAC oven would harder to wire up that
way, but I agree that such a fail-safe would likely prevent at least a few
fires.

Cooking fires that start with left-on burners happen with alarming frequency
to people suffering from diseases that affect cognitive functioning and
often are the trigger for children moving their elderly parents into
assisted living.

http://www.firesafetyfoundation.org/...e-elderly.html

Americans over the age of 65 are one of the groups at greatest risk of
dying in a fire. On average, more than 900 Americans age 65 and over die in
fires. People over the age of 85 die in fires at a rate five times higher
than the rest of the population. However, there are a number of
precautionary steps older Americans can take to dramatically reduce their
chances of becoming a fire casualty . . . Cooking accidents are the leading
cause of fire related injuries for older Americans. The kitchen is one of
the most active and potentially dangerous rooms in the home.

--
Bobby G.