How Do Electrical Fires Happen?

A high current fault can create an electrical fire by forming a high energy arc flash which rapidly vaporizes metal and insulation material.

An electrical explosion is the sudden release of energy due to a short circuit between power phases or a phase to ground. It is important to realize that a very large amount of energy is available on the bus of most electrical panels when they are operating within their normal design parameters. For example a phase to phase short circuit on a 400 Amp, 120/208 Volt panel can instantaneously release over 100 kilowatts of energy during a fault condition and not blow the protective fuse or circuit breaker.

An electrical explosion of this magnitude will destroy the panel and can start a fire causing severe injuries