I had a lucky escape today, in that I was in when an electrical fault caused a fire. Had I been out, the house could easily have been burning when I returned.
I've attached pictures of the culprit, a cheap 4 gang socket with a built in plug. Probably came from Poundland (though they're sold elsewhere).
Earlier I'd smelt a slight burning smell, but imagined it to be someone's bonfire outside, so ignored it.
Later, I was using the computer, when I suddenly noticed flames - the nearby curtain was on fire!
On the floor below the curtain was a 6 gang socket into which was plugged this additional 4 gang socket.
Perhaps stacking them like that was not the wisest of moves, but I can assure you it was very far from overloaded. If all the equipment plugged into it was switched on at once (which it wasn't), it would have drawn around 700 watts. The burnt-out 4 gang adaptor had only 2 things plugged in, the computer itself (around 300 watts) and a power supply for an 8 port hub (perhaps 4 watts).
It looks as if the internal wiring was at fault, as the live wire is melted onto the earth bar inside. Of course, this may have been caused by an unknown fault creating heat, which then melted the insulation, and subsequently blew the upstream fuse.
At one time I had a few of these cheap adaptors in use, this was the last one and I don't intend to use them anymore. Am considering taking it to Trading Standards as a matter of safety.
Ian