Burning Smell in Home Caused by Damaged Branch Circuit Connectors

Location: Port Coquitlam, BC
Regulated industry sector: Electrical – Low Voltage Electrical System (30V to 1000V)

Incident Overview

During a heatwave, a homeowner discovered a burning smell coming from the top floor hallway of their home on two separate occasions. On both occasions, the fire department was called, and found evidence of the electrical system shorting in the top floor’s smoke detector outlet box. This caused minor fire damage to the branch circuit connector insulation and the outlet box. Further investigation found that the additional current draw from a portable air conditioner plugged into the same circuit as the smoke detector, rather than a dedicated outlet, contributed to the electrical short.