For 60 years the toaster, a new one about every 5-10 years, has sat on the tile counter under the wood cabinet holding the plates,about 8" above. We make a lot of toast with 6 in the family.
Then we started toasting ricecakes and noticed they burned much faster so you basically had to stand by the toaster for less than 60 seconds. What we did not notice , until the smoke alarm went off one night !!, was the accumulation of rice cake pieces in the bottom of the toaster had become "kindling" for a fire that went up the wood cabinet ,8" above !!
So they must have smoldered after dinner, and then when we went to sleep, they burst into flame and caught the cabinet on fire. We currently have the kind of toaster with a small thin tray that slides out and we intend to go back to the big bottom door kind so it is easier to regularly drop the crumbs from the toaster into the sink and disposal. We have moved the toaster away from the wooden cabinet.
Have you ever seen a house go up in flames after a toaster fire at night? We took a tour when one was made available by the local fire department to get the point across. There was little left other than the house framing. Be careful out there !!
