Woman’s House Burns Down. Is Her Wi-Fi Box to Blame?

This woman’s house allegedly caught on fire after a Quantum Fiber internet box overheated. Is the company liable for setting her house aflame?

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Quantum Fiber is a fiber-optic internet provider that is available for homes and small businesses. It differentiates itself from other internet giants by providing unlimited data, no annual contract, and a fixed monthly price.

Fiber internet is known to be faster and more reliable than traditional cable internet.

But this customer isn’t singing its praises.

Internet box burns down a house

In a viral video with more than 4.6 million views, Kee (@yeahthatskeeee) shared how her home unexpectedly went up in flames after her Quantum Fiber Wi-Fi box overheated.

The fire started in Kee’s bedroom and spread through the rest of the house, leaving much of the home burnt, blackened, and covered in soot.

The damage appears to be worse in the bedroom, with chunks of the ceiling insulation falling down, a window being blown out, and the bed being burned down to just the surviving metal coils.

“We literally lost everything today,” Kee said.

To add insult to injury, Kee added that Quantum Fiber made them switch over to a new box just two months back, but the Wi-Fi was so inconsistent that they had to send a technician to fix it.

“Quantum Fiber, count your [expletive] days,” she added.

Based on Kee’s tone, it doesn’t seem anybody got hurt in the fire.

In a follow-up video the day after the incident, Kee shared that she was still trying to wrap her head around the situation and figure out her emotions.

“I don’t really know how to feel,” she said. “It’s like, my kids just have nothing to come home to. My nieces and nephews have nothing to come home to.”

Why did the device catch fire?

This situation would likely be deemed an electrical fire. Its common causes, according to Safety Culture are:

• Damaged wiring
• Malfunctioning appliances
• Overloaded circuits 
• Poorly installed extension cords and power strips 
• Proximity to heat sources

Is Quantum Fiber liable?

It is still unclear if Quantum Fiber can be held responsible for the fire. While it’s allegedly the company’s device that started the fire, there are still many unknown details.

Renters insurance

A commenter who works as an instance broker suggested that in the future, Kee get a renter’s insurance policy.

“Ohhh girllll if I can turn back the hands of timeee,” Kee replied.

Similar to home insurance, renters insurance protects you and your personal belongings in the case of theft, fire, and water damage (among other things).

In the United States, the average renter’s insurance cost is about $12 a month, or $148 a year, NerdWallet reported. However, rates can vary based on location. For example, the average monthly rate is $8 in Wyoming, and the average monthly rate is $21 in Mississippi.

Some apartment owners have started requiring tenants to take out renters insurance as part of the lease agreement.

It’s recommended that you file your renter’s insurance claim within 72 hours of an incident’s occurrence, according to U.S. News.

“File a lawsuit immediately,” a top comment read.

“Get a lawyer and get someone out to prove the malfunction, do NOT contact the company and definitely work with your home owners insurance if you have it, make sure they can work with your lawyer!” a person said.

@yeahthatskeeee Literally unreal!!! @QuantumFiber box overheated & set my house on fire! My family lost everything 😔 They just made everyone get new boxes about 2 months ago & this happens. Mind you the wifi never fully worked correctly after we got it & they sent a technician out to try & “fix” it & this happens. UNBELIEVABLE❗️#fyp #foryoupage #losteverything ♬ original sound – YeahThatsKeeee 😘

“I’m a house fire survivor. Breathe, cry, scream. This will be a long road but your blessing is going to be huge! Sending you hugs and peace,” another encouraged.

The Daily Dot reached out to Kee for comment via TikTok direct message and comment and to Quantum Fiber’s parent company Lumen Technologies via email.

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