LINDA SOKO TEMBO writes
ZESCO has advised its customers to ensure that all electrical appliances are completely switched off during the four-hour power outages to avoid homes been burned down when electricity comes back.
Company spokesperson Henry Kapata said already there have been a few cases of houses catching fire in Lusaka and the Copperbelt since the load shedding schedule was launched.
In an interview with the Sun, Mr Kapata advised ZESCO customers to be conscious when power went and ensure that all electrical appliances were turned off.
Mr Kapata said people were failing to put safety measures in place to ensure that no fires were started by completely switching off and unplugging their appliances.
“When there is no power for four hours people must ensure all electricity appliances are off because we already have reports of homes catching fires when power is restored,
“We have a few incidents of fire because people forgot to switch off electrical appliances once power goes and while some are not properly turned off leading to outbreaks of fires,” he said.
Mr Kapata said the other reason that caused houses to catch fire was overloading the sockets in homes.
“You find one socket has refrigerator, TV, computer games printer among others and when power come they will create a short circuit because the switch is not meant to over load” said Mr Kapata.
He advised the consumers to always unplug extensions and switch off appliances whether power was on or off because if a switch was on or unplugged it consumed 50 percent of power.
