Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, January 2, 1993 TAG: 9301020040
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A5 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WILLIAMSBURG LENGTH: Medium
DEADLY CANDLE'S WIRING FAULTY
An electric Christmas candle that killed a Williamsburg girl was wired backwards and would not have electrocuted her had it been made correctly, according to an electrician.Lauren Fonton, 5, died Dec. 3 when she put the candle to her mouth and touched a radiator with her foot while playing at home.
A correctly wired candle might not even have given the girl a shock when she put it to her lips, said Richard Stratton, president of Olde Towne Electric in James City County.
Stratton examined the 59-cent candle at the request of the girl's family and the Daily Press newspaper.
"This one here tells you it's polarized to make it safe, but it's hot as a firecracker. It's not safe," Stratton said. "This is a defective product."
Beacon Electric Manufacturing Co. of Boston, which made the candle Lauren played with, went out of business five years ago.
If a polarized lamp is wired correctly, household current flows directly to a button in the bottom of the light socket, which doesn't touch the bulb unless it is screwed in tightly. A light bulb's threaded brass neck doesn't carry electricity when it is loose in the socket, even if the lamp is plugged in, Stratton said.
But if a lamp is wired backward, the bulb's threaded brass neck will carry a full dose of household current when the lamp is plugged in, even when the bulb is partly unscrewed.
A lamp is wired backward when the hot wire touches the brass of the screw socket, instead of being attached to the base of the socket. The bulb's threaded brass neck will carry a full dose of household current when the lamp is plugged in, even when the bulb is partly unscrewed.
It is possible that even a correctly wired electric candle could have electrocuted Lauren if she had pushed the candle's bulb down into the socket with her mouth or if there had been enough saliva in the socket to make a complete circuit, Stratton said. But that would have been unlikely, he said.
Noma International of Forest Park, Ill., bought Beacon Electric's assets. The electric candles it manufactures are similar to the Beacon model.
But Michael Sugar, Noma's financial vice president, said Noma has equipment that automatically rejects candles that are wired backwards in its factory in Mexico. Without the special equipment, defective lamps could reach the market, he said.
Underwriters Laboratories, which certified the 5-year-old candle that killed Lauren, said it is investigating the incident. The federal Consumer Product Safety Commission also said it is looking into Lauren's death and may investigate but has announced no recall.
Keywords:
FATALITY