Are smart meters to blame for house fires?

A RUSH to install energy smart meters in millions of homes has triggered fires and is putting families at risk, it is claimed.

Evidence suggests some of the engineers hired to install the meters do not know what they are doing.

One employed by British Gas told a horrified couple: ‘Sorry, I’ve blown up your house.’

Details of two fires linked to the installation of smart meters were highlighted by the BBC Watchdog programme last night.

There are concerns that many more could follow, as energy companies have been ordered by the Government to install smart meters in 53million homes and businesses by 2020.

The programme will cost some £11billion, which is being added to customers’ bills. The meters transmit details of a family’s energy use to their suppliers using a system similar to mobile phones, removing the need for estimated bills.

One couple, Paul and Lou Lynch, from Enfield, north London, said a tenant in a flat they own witnessed a British Gas engineer get into difficulties as he was installing a smart meter.

The gas supply ignited, setting the kitchen on fire. It was safely extinguished but the rest of the flat was smoke and water damaged and the tenant lost her possessions. Landlord Mr Lynch said: ‘Both myself and the fire officer were standing together when the gas engineer installing the meter ... said “I am really sorry, I’ve blown up your house”.

‘It was devastating. You sit there and think – where do you start? Seven months after the fire, we are still in the same position.’

Marina Devall, from North Wales, told the programme she had just gone outside her rented house to collect her car keys when it went up in flames. ‘There wasn’t anything we could do, so we just watched the house burn,’ she said.

Three months later, Miss Devall is living in a caravan with her partner while the house is repaired.

The fire service confirmed that the blaze began at her electrical distribution board.

Her energy provider, Ovo Energy, which had installed a smart meter six months earlier, launched a full investigation and provided the caravan for her to live in, but has denied responsibility for the fire. It said there is ‘no evidence’ the smart meter was the cause.

British Gas said its engineers get comprehensive training and blamed the Enfield fire on ‘human error’, adding: ‘ This mistake had nothing to do with smart meter technology.’

And the Government energy department, BEIS, said: ‘We work together with energy suppliers and network operators to continuously review safety trends and have seen no evidence of increasing safety risks.’