DUBLIN, Ga. — Gary Lausch owns Lausch Electrics in Dublin, and he advises people to take precautions when using power strip. "All this is is a glorified extension cord with the ability to plug in a lot of different things, which gives you the ability to overload this cord really quick," he said.
He says they aren't built to power multiple appliances at once. "This thing's not designed for everything to be turned on at the same time -- that's what overloads it. That's the danger of extension cords and things like that," Lausch said.
Dublin Fire Chief Matthew Cutler says the fire that killed three people should serve as warning for people using power strips at home. "Make sure it's not a bargain power strip. You're going to have to pay more for a good power strip," he said.
The price for a basic power strip costs about $8, but the one that includes a power surge protector costs about $23, and the difference could be your life.
"You don't want to look at the prices as much as you want to look at the ability of the device that you're buying," Lausch said. "That's what you're buying. If you buy something that's inexpensive that's going to cause a fire, then that's not worth its money."
"Make sure that it is UL-approved, a breaker on the side of it, some sort of device that's going to trip if it has a problem, and only use it temporarily," Cutler said.
Cutler says it's important to only use power strips for small appliances. "We've seen a lot times where people are plugging in refrigerators, air conditioners, heaters and things into these units, and they're not intended for that," he said.
"It's not meant to rewire half of your house," Lausch said.
Cutler urges people to change the batteries in your smoke detector twice a year, every spring and fall. If you don't have smoke detectors, he says many local departments will provide them for free.