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Goddess Columbia - light
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4737864/Are-smart-meter-blame-house-fires.html
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.