Machine Fire

I actually had a machine catch fire yesterday as I was pulling it ut to unplug it.
I arrived at the house as normal and asked the customer what the problem was, she explained that it was making a funny noise and wouldn’t work. She turned the dial to 30 degree wash to show me, and it made a slight buzzing noise but nothing else happened. I switched it off and started to pull the machine out. As I got it out far enough to pull the plug I noticed a slight burning smell. I pulled the plug and pointed it out to the customer. As I started to unscrew the top I noticed that black smoke started seeping through the top and that the fascia was melting, I decided not to remove the top at this point, then flames come from the front of the fascia (The customer was still in the room).
I told the customer to get the children out of the house just in case, (this was happenening very rapidly) and went to the van for the fire extinguisher. By this pint the kitchen was full of smoke, I extinguished the flames and made sure this fire was out then went outside with the customer for a few minutes for the kitchen to clear.
When I looked at the machine, the PCB on the front & fascia etc were completely melted and black.
The customer asked me if I minded putting the machine outside, which I did. I have advised her to contact the manufacturer and inform them as they would be very concerned at this.
Can you imagine if she had put the machine on and walked away ?
You had to pull the machine out to get to the plug (no spur)
I had not even touched the machine when all this happened.
I have not mentioned the manufacturer yet but it is not one you would expect something like this from.
The customer didn’t seem that concerned as she had a spare machine in the barn.

Toni Paz 😯