# Tankless water heater causes fire



## 1703 (Jul 21, 2009)

Investigators have determined that a tankless water heater system at the Pekin Serenity Alcoholics Anonymous Club was to blame for a Nov. 21 blaze that destroyed the building.
Pekin Fire Chief Kurt Nelson said the fire started in a utility room at the back of the building. The water heater system likely overheated.
In a demand water heater system, pipes carry cold water through the unit and the water is heated in the pipes. It eliminates the energy waste associated with heating a large tank of water continuously.
The system was installed at the club, 612 Third St., about two years ago, and there had been no problems with it before the fire. Nelson said investigators are trying to determine the brand of the unit to see if others of the same make, model and manufacturer have experienced any problems similar to the Serenity Club fire.
Any markings that would have identified the unit were destroyed by the heat of the blaze. Paperwork for the purchase of the unit burned in the fire.
The building sustained $150,000 to $200,000 in damage. The content loss is estimated between $20,000 and $40,000, depending on what is salvageable from an adjoining garage that housed Greg's Garage Doors.
The building will have to be demolished, said Nelson, because of the instability of the walls. The steel and wooden beams supporting the roof were compromised by the heat as well, said Nelson.
Pekin firefighters were called to the building at 10:18 p.m. and found smoke coming from under the roof and fire coming from the back of the building. Firefighters battled the blaze for several hours.
No one was injured in the fire.
The club has relocated to 1016 Derby St. The owner of that building donated the space until the club can get on its feet. The Pekin Celestial Club donated furniture for use by the club.

http://www.pjstar.com/news/tricounty/x1621194521/Tankless-water-heater-resposible-for-fire

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Will be interesting to see if more details come out about what happened.

Did the heater fail?

Or was it an installation issue?


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## Plumbworker (Oct 23, 2008)

well i guess there was no plumber in that equation.. :whistling2:


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## OldSchool (Jan 30, 2010)

I was never there


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## easttexasplumb (Oct 13, 2010)

I went and looked at one the other day, the house was not burned too badly, mostly smoke damage. But it was an electric tankless water heater, do not know what brand it was. The fire investigator said it was, the heater, or wiring to it that caused the fire. The closet that the heater was in and walls around it were burned the most. All I could see left of the heater was the metal back and some of the electrical componets melted together.


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## Tommy plumber (Feb 19, 2010)

A couple of isolated cases? It'll be interesting to see if installation was cause or if it's a factory problem.


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## ckoch407 (Sep 30, 2009)

I strongly dislike the electric tankless heaters. Without having enough information to know, I will make a biased guess that its electric.


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## Master Mark (Aug 14, 2009)

*their will be more*



ckoch407 said:


> I strongly dislike the electric tankless heaters. Without having enough information to know, I will make a biased guess that its electric.


with home owners buying tankless heaters at lowes and installing them themselves....I would be willing to bet that 
fires will be popping up here and there all over the USA...

about 2 years ago I stumbled on a bosch tankless that was vented up the through the attic and out the roof..... 
it was installed with only double wall vent pipe and not the SS stuff that was required by the manufactyurer....... 
and the attic was used for storage of x-mas boxes ect....

the home owner blew me off about it .....


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## Ishmael (Dec 9, 2009)

Master Mark said:


> with home owners buying tankless heaters at lowes and installing them themselves....I would be willing to bet that
> fires will be popping up here and there all over the USA...
> 
> about 2 years ago I stumbled on a bosch tankless that was vented up the through the attic and out the roof.....
> ...


If they were cavalier about it, I would've reported them to the local building inspector.


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## Cal (Jun 17, 2008)

Strange how it states "Any markings that would have identified the unit were destroyed by the heat of the blaze. Paperwork for the purchase of the unit burned in the fire."
HHHMMMMM ??


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## Redwood (Sep 8, 2008)

Cal said:


> Strange how it states "Any markings that would have identified the unit were destroyed by the heat of the blaze. Paperwork for the purchase of the unit burned in the fire."
> HHHMMMMM ??


Well that usually what happens in a fire... :laughing:

This picture below is a picture of a Ferrari 458 Italia...
Can you show me the Ferrari emblem, VIN tag or, perhaps the registration papers? :whistling2:

The registration is in the glove box if that helps...:laughing:


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## beachplumber (Feb 7, 2010)

the electric tankless are scary.
I worked on one 4 elements plastic caising,
and lots of rubber o-rings to leak all over
Its been a couple of years, but i remember getting parts at NAPA
it was one of the electrical components


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