The fine line between keeping warm and third degree burns

Winter in Xi'an is milder than in Rochester, NY or St Louis, MO. Its halfway through December and there is no sign of snow on the horizon. However the lack of adequate heating indoors makes it seem much colder. Last month I invested in an electric blanket. It has decreased my dependence on my heating unit which is an energy hog (I pay for my own electricity). For the week my heating unit was not working, my electric blanket was all I had.

The blanket cost me 28RMB (~$4). It doesn't cover my whole bed, but I only needed it to keep my feet warm anyway. Unfortunately the convenience store I bought it from only sold it in one style:

That's hot

The blanket has three settings: off, warm, and burn. The warm setting is not quite warm enough, but the burn setting is intolerable. Before going to bed I usually set the blanket to burn and then switch to warm when it gets too hot. When I'm sitting in bed I can keep it on the burn setting as long as I have the comforter between me and the blanket.

Burn setting not pictured

If you're guessing where this post is going, yes my electric blanket caught on fire. No, I was not asleep when it happened. I wasn't burned and I was able to put the fire out quickly. However my nights have been a lot colder ever since it happened.

I was sitting on my bed atop my comforter with the blanket set to burn. Little did I know that some of the electric chord was draped over the blanket. Normally I wouldn't think this to be a problem--surely the manufacturer would make a chord that could withstand the heat of the electric blanket it attaches to. Alas, Chinese manufacturers do not have to adhere to the quality or safety standards that constrain manufacturers for the US market. The heat from the blanket melted away the plastic coating of the chord, exposing the wire which promptly caught on fire.

The extent of the damage from the electrical fire

I miss my blanket, but I don't think I'll get a new one...