OK My house almost burnt down. HELP!!!!

[ScAndal]

bignate,
Thats when your insurance kicks in and you run like a cheetah!!!

ScAndal

 

[Harvey]

What could cause such a thing?

Since the sparks, smoke and smell was in the room, the problem was not the breaker. That's what saved your butt/house. One possible cause could be a rodent chewing into your wiring, especially if it's Romex, not wire pairs in steel conduit. Another possible cause is aluminum electrical wiring, used in houses from the mid 1960's to the early 1970's.

CPSC research shows that "homes wired with aluminum wire manufactured before 1972 are 55 times more likely to have one or more connections reach "Fire Hazard Conditions" than are homes wired with copper.

Get a professional to check out your entire house. If it happened once, it could happen again.

 

[XZeroII]

There is a short somewhere in the wall, or a junction box. That is why the circuit breaker will not reset, because something is still wrong. If you know where the wiring goes, you can track it back to a junction box and see if anything is burnt there. Another option is to unplug EVERYTHING that goes to that breaker and see what happens. Something is definatly wrong, and I wouldn't think it's the breaker itself. You should have an electrician come in and inspect the whole house because if it happened in one place, it could happen in another. Good luck

 

[sharkeeper]

Do you have Federal Pacific (FPE) circuit breakers? If so, I'd get the panel changed out ASAP!

Cheers!