Woman warns people about the dangers of extension cords after house fire

By Sharon Danquah

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    FRANKLIN, Tennessee (WSMV) — A woman said a rechargeable flashlight sparked a fire that destroyed her home in Williamson County and she wants to warn others before it happens to them.

Cindy Harris recounts the night that she lost everything and said it happened in a matter of seconds.

“I was losing everything,” Harris said.

She said it started with a loud bang.

“I have a mirror that was on the wall that constantly fell so we go up there and the charging mechanism thing was on the dog bed and the dog bed was on fire,” Harris said. “I went and got some water threw it on it, but nothing happened, like it didn’t go out. It kind of got worse.”

The flames, however, spread faster than she could move to grab more water, because Cindy is in a wheelchair.

“It was out of control, It seemed to drag on and then, all of a sudden, there it was, everything was just up in flames,” Harris said.

She said she called 9-1-1, but never stopped fighting.

“I was just trying to save it,” Harris said.

Firefighters pulled in to find her hosing down her home, praying the flames would stop.

“He just kept telling me I needed to back up and let them get in there and do their job,” Harris said.

They said the fire was started by a lithium battery powered flashlight. Cindy was charging it on an extension cord with hand full of other appliances.

“Nobody tells you that you can’t hook all that stuff up,” she explained. “Like, my wheelchair battery should have been in an outlet by itself. All my memories and stuff were just going up in flame,” Harris said.

Firefighter said check your battery powered appliances and never have too many things plugged into one outlet.

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