UK and US have different Mx load and wire sizes. For
example the UK standard outlet can provide 32 amps. But
appliance wire is not capable of conducting that much current
without fire. So UK uses fuses in plugs. US uses 15 and 20
amp circuits. Power cords will conduct 20 amps
inefficiently. But either the standard power cord will
conduct up to 15 amps, or will short circuit - temporarily
conducting too much current and tripping the circuit breaker.
US power cords don't require fused plugs. This should be
obvious to UK and US readers.

A circuit breaker inside a US power strip adds an important
and added layer of protection. All power strips should
contain the 15 amps circuit breaker; which is why they are
acceptable on a standard 20 amp circuit.

I am not entirely sure that this fire (in the original post)
is a result of too many appliances on one power strip.
Insufficient information probably because information is
filtered by a technically naive news reporter. Other facts
can contribute to fire danger. But the lurker should be
learning something. Any power strip (in America), including
surge protector power strips, must have the 15 amp circuit
breaker - for human safety. In some jurisdictions such as
Chicago and NYC, power strips are illegal. If power strip was
required, then an electrician must be hired to install
sufficient receptacles in the wall. A requirement justified
by experience in those jurisdictions.

UK system provides no significant safety advantage AND has
other downsides that can increase possiblity of failure. For
those with too much nationalistic fervor, that sentence does
not say one system is superior to another. Both systems (UK
and US) have advantages and disadvantages. For the original
problem, either of two factors might have made those deaths
unnecessary - a 15 amp circuit breaker in the power strip OR
arc fault circuit breaker. The original poster does not
provide sufficient information to say better which would have
saved lives. Just another example of why posts without
massive details can result in incorrect conclusions.


Ian Stirling wrote:
There is no fuse in most US plugs, they are in theory protected by
a breaker some way up the line.

I vastly prefer the UK plug, generally the ability to pull ~3Kw
through it safely, on a fused plug outweighs the rather larger
size. It can be rather silly for devices smaller than the plug
though, and it sucks for portable devices.