A family of four are lucky to be alive after their dishwasher caught fire in the middle of the night.
Simone, a mother of two from the US, loaded the kitchen appliance on the evening of August 7 and turned it on before going to bed.
Little did she know that at 1:25 a.m. the dishwasher was ablaze and the kitchen was ablaze before the smoke alarm went off and the entire family woke up.
Fortunately, they were able to be brought to safety and firefighters quickly arrived to extinguish the flames.
“We are devastated. Please pray for my family. Check your smoke alarms. Don’t leave appliances running overnight. It’s not worth the risk,” Simone warned, posting a video.
The fire caused thousands of dollars in damage and destroyed the kitchen, forcing the family to find another place to live for six months while they cleaned, restored and renovated.
The couple does have homeowners insurance, but it doesn’t cover all the costs, and they’re left with over $3,500 in bills, plus additional moving expenses.
It is a common mistake in households around the world to run the dishwasher at night. Most people are probably not aware of the risks.
Running your dishwasher at night is a common mistake in homes around the world, but it also puts you at risk for house fires. This is what happened to one American family whose dishwasher caught fire while they were sleeping (pictured)
The fire in Simone’s house is a warning to other households to only run the dishwasher during the day when you are home.
Because dishwashers generate heat during use, it is wise to keep an eye on the appliance to minimize the risk of fire.
This also applies to dryers and washing machines for the same reason.
Since then, Simone’s video has been viewed more than 1.7 million times and hundreds of people have thanked her for sharing the warning.
A GoFundMe page has also been created to support the family financially.
“I run the dishwasher every night and I will never do that again,” said one of them.
“I didn’t even know this was possible. I’ve never had a problem with it,” said another.
“My mom always told me to never leave the house or go to sleep with a device on! Thank you for sharing and I’m so sorry for your loss,” a third added.
“I live in an apartment and it’s scary to think how many of my neighbors probably turn on devices at night and when they’re gone,” someone else wrote.
“Thanks to your video I finally changed the batteries in my smoke alarm which I had been putting off for a few days. So thank you,” wrote another.
“I thought slow cookers were safe until one night while the slow cooker was finishing up, I heard a bunch of popping and spluttering noises coming from the cooker. I unplugged it and went to pick up the insert. The insert was literally split,” added another.