If you have glass doorknobs in your home, it might be time to consider redecorating. The internet is abuzz after a photo began circulating of the aftermath of a house fire. The alleged culprit? An ordinary glass doorknob.
The photo, first posted to Reddit by user Proteon, apparently shows the aftermath of a small house fire. Thankfully, it looks like it was a small blaze that only did minor damage, though it's scary to imagine what could have happened!
Like any fire, it started when concentrated heat caused material to combust. However, there was no open flame or other obvious heat source nearby.
Like the cellphone that overheated and set a bedroom on fire, this blaze was caused by an unexpected hazard.
It all allegedly started with the ordinary glass knob on the door.
Scroll through below to learn more about this alarming hazard and what you can do to protect yourself.
Reddit user Proteon first posted about the alarming fire hazard. They uploaded the image to share on the site, and it quickly got a lot of attention.
Some 1,000 people commented on the photo, adding their own comments and concerns about how the fire started.
It quickly became a trending story as people all over the world began to wonder if their glass doorknobs were hazardous, too.
Lots of houses have glass doorknobs both inside and outside the home. They are especially popular in older constructions.
Certain eras in architecture were especially into the glass doorknob, so houses built in the 1920s or 1930s are particularly likely to have them.
If your house fits the description, you may want to check for glass knobs.
The reason glass doorknobs might be dangerous is that they have a knack for reflecting light.
A little boy might set a small fire with his magnifying glass by focusing a beam of sunlight until it gets really hot and starts to combust.
Glass doorknobs have the potential to work in exactly the same way, by catching a beam of light and focusing it.
In fact, it looks like that's exactly what happened in Proteon's house. Sun came in through a window and caught the doorknob at a funny angle.
The light bounced off the doorknob and formed a single concentrated beam, a little bit like a laser.
That laser-like sunbeam would have heated up carpeting, wallpaper or other flammable material until it eventually caught on fire.
Now, we've only heard of one case so far of this happening with a glass doorknob, but it's a good idea to keep an eye out for potential hazards in your home.
London Fire Brigade recently posted that they've seen about 125 fires caused by light refracting through glass in the past five years.
In one notorious case, a fire was even started by lighting bouncing off a half-empty jar of Nutella.
In other words, your chances of a house fire caused by a glass doorknob are on the slim side, but it's not impossible by any means.
And no matter what fire safety precautions you take to reduce the risk from glass items, every household should have a fire escape plan in place, just in case!
If you're alarmed to learn about the hidden danger of glass doorknobs, be sure to SHARE this article to help friends and family protect themselves, too!
These stories are based on posts found on Reddit. Reddit is a user-generated social news aggregation, web content rating, and discussion website where registered members submit content to the site and can up- or down-vote the content. The accuracy and authenticity of each story cannot be confirmed by our staff.
