: Below is a picture of a CFL light bulb from my bathroom.

: I turned it on the other day and then smelled smoke after

: a few minutes. Four-inch flames were spewing out of the

: side of the ballast like a blow torch! I immediately turned

: off the lights! I'm sure it would have caused a fire if I

: was not right there! Imagine if the kids had left the lights

: on as usual when they were not in the room!

: I took the bulb to the Fire Department to report the incident.

: The fireman wasn't at all surprised, and said that it was not

: an uncommon occurrence. Apparently, sometimes when the bulb

: burns out, there is a chance that the ballast can start a fire. He
: told

: me that the Fire Marshall had issued reports about the dangers of

: these bulbs.

: Upon doing some Internet research, it seems that bulbs made by

: “Globe” in China seem to have the lion’s share of problems.
: Lots

: of fires have been blamed on misuse of CFL bulbs, like using them

: in recessed lighting, pot lights, dimmers or in track lighting.

: Mine was installed in a normal light socket.

: I bought these at Wal-Mart. I will be removing all the Globe bulbs

: from my house. CFL bulbs are great energy-savers, but make sure

: you buy a name brand like Sylvania , Phillips or GE --and NOT the

: ones from China . PASS THE WORD, PLEASE.

: "I have a pix if you want to see it, happened to a friend of
: mine, beware of Chinese CFC's.

: Bill H.

Hey Bill,
Just realised that you used CFC for CFL. :D
Thank goodness for dyslexia, I read it as CFL.