On Wed, 23 Jun 2004 01:50:35 -0500, Jim Michaels
wrote:

On Sat, 19 Jun 2004 08:37:02 +0100, Andy Hall
wrote:


Err. No. Read more carefully.

From the first reference:

"According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC),
statistics indicate there are 40,000 residential fires annually caused
by problems with electrical wiring systems, claiming more than 350
lives, causing thousands of injuries from electric shocks and burns
and resulting in more than $2 billion in personal property damage. "

This refers to fixed wiring.

It is not clear what it refers to.

It says "electrical wiring systems". I would take that to mean fixed
wiring installations.





From the second:

"Each year, electrical faults, accidents or misuse of electrical
equipment cause 28,000 fires in homes."

This includes electrical appliances, and it is well known that many
more fires are caused by appliance misuse and failure than from fixed
wiring.


A US number that seems more equivalent
http://www.esfi.org/sub.php?l0=hs&l1=index
including the appliances is 69,000

Even worse then.
..andy

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