Is it possible for a fire to occur if something is plugged in but not turned on?

Question

If so, how? If the item is not turned on then the wires won't heat up and get hot.

Answer 1

Sure it can.  Electricity is still flowing to it and that sh*t gets hot.  Switches wear out.  Wires wear out.  Totally possible

Answer 2

Sure it is...it's called a short circuit.

Normally, when things are in the off state, the circuit is open.  That way no current can flow.  But in a short circuit, somethinig closes at least some of the circuit and current flows.  The heat in electricity comes from the current flowing through the wires and such.

The reason we call it a short circuit is because, typically, the current flows only through a short part of the total normal circuit.  A common short circuit is when the male plug crosses wires and the short circuit is the very short length between the two hot plug pins.  And here's what that does (time for some physics).

Suppose rho L = R is the resistance of a normal circuit L long, with rho as the resistivity in ohms per length.  Now we get a short circuit; so that the length of wire the current flows through is l < L.  In this case rho l = r and, clearly, r < R.

The heat pouring out of the circuit is proportional to q = i^2 R for the normal circuit in the on state with a current of i and to Q = I^2 r for the short circuit with a current of I.  The voltage from the socket into both the short circuit (e.g., across the male plug pins) and the normal circuit is E = iR = Ir; thus I = (R/r)i.  That is to say, the electric socket provides the same output voltage (e.g., 120 or 220 V) in either case.  

Putting this into the heat relationships, we have q = i^2 R and Q = (R/r)^2 i^2 R = (R/r)^2 q.  That is Q > q by the factor of (R/r)^2 since R/r > 1.0.  And there you are, the heat from the short circuit Q is greater than the heat  from the normal circuit q because the short circuit resistance is typically r < R which is less than the normal circuit resistance.

Answer 3

A lot of fires occur because of frayed wires on power cord shorting out.  

Answer 4

your house wiring is always 'plugged in' so it could short circuit at any time regardless of whether you have any appliances plugged into the walls  or not

i don't worry about it, the odds of a short circuit in new appliances is pretty low and besides your fuses will blow most of the time so it won't matter

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