The two fires on Saturday caused no death or injury, but they did damage a home and destroy a moped, said officials with the Shanghai Fire Control Bureau.

"We've found that a lot of fires in winter are related to problems with electrical appliances," said Wei Jinguang, a bureau official.

Officials said more than 30 percent of the approximately 3,000 fires in the city last year were related to electric appliances, and about 70 percent of electric-related fires were due to faulty wires.

Three days ago, a fire erupted in a television in a home on Pingtang Road in Minhang District when no one was in. The blaze spread, destroying some furniture before neighbors alerted fire-fighters.

"Our firefighters soon extinguished the blaze," Wei said. "We found that old and frayed wires caused the incident."

A few hours later that same day, a moped suddenly caught on fire while its owner was filling the gas tank at a service station on Lingshi Road in Zhabei District.

The problem was traced to old wires attached to the engine, fire officials said.

Zhao Zhiyuan, manager of Shanghai New Engine Environmental Protection Engineering Co Ltd, said, "Electrical problems can very likely cause fires during winter when people will likely be using more electrical appliances at home, such as heaters. So it's easy for wires to overheat and short-circuit."

Zhao said older homes are particularly vulnerable because their wires "have limited capacity."

(eastday.com March 5, 2002)