Mum's horror as 'shoe-warmer' bought on TikTok bursts into flames and sparks £200k blaze
A £13 electric shoe-warmer bought via TikTok ignited while unattended in the utility room of Kaela Rigg’s five-bedroom detached house on Whitebeam Close, Oldham, causing a garage fire that spread smoke throughout the newly renovated home. Greater Manchester Fire & Rescue Service extinguished the blaze on 12 Jan; investigators blame the faulty device. Estimated damage is £200k, forcing the family to live with relatives for about a year while the house is stripped and rebuilt. TikTok has removed the product pending investigation; Rigg is warning others to discard similar items.
TikTok Shoe Warmer Ignites, Causing £200,000 Blaze at Family Home
A £13 electric shoe warmer purchased on TikTok erupted into flames, destroying a family’s five-bedroom home in Oldham and causing £200,000 worth of damage. Kaela Rigg, 46, had just returned home to drop off shopping around 11am on January 12 when she noticed an acrid burning smell filling her newly-renovated property on Whitebeam Close.
The restaurant owner followed the smoke to her utility room, where she discovered thick black smoke pouring from the connecting garage door. “Standing outside and seeing the smoke billowing from the garage, it was devastating. I felt helpless, we had only just completed renovations the weeks before,” Rigg said. She fled the house with her five-year-old Shih-Poo Georgie and called emergency services as Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service dispatched three engines from Rochdale and Oldham stations.
Fire investigators determined the blaze originated from the electric shoe warmer Rigg had bought to dry her son’s rugby boots. The device, which she hadn’t used for two weeks, had been left plugged into a wall socket with the switch on. “The smoke from the fire has gotten into everything upstairs and downstairs, the walls, the furniture, electronics. The house is a mess. We are going to have to rip everything out and start again,” Rigg explained, adding that her family faces 12 months out of their home despite having insurance coverage.
Firefighters warned the family could have died had the fire started overnight. “I just feel so lucky to be here as what if it happened during the night when the kids were home, we could have died,” Rigg said. TikTok has since removed the product from their platform pending investigation, while Rigg now urges others to discard similar devices: “Since posting about it online, I have had a number of people reach out to me saying they have the exact same one. I just told them to bin it.”
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