Rochester, Washington, looking west from the center of down-town. Rochester, Washington, looking east from the center of down-town. NOTE: This website is undergoing many changes - its size has gotten way too large to easily manage. If you encounter a link that no longer works it may be that I have accidentally removed the page/picture the link points to.
Without seeing the extent of the damage, it's impossible to say if the damage might cause a short/start a fire, or pose a shock hazard, or both; you could be seriously injured or killed. There are suggestions to tape the wire with electrical tape. This can be done, but be extremely careful.
One of the more misunderstood modes of overheating is insulation breakdown. On one hand, we know how frayed cords can cause overheating when the insulation is defeated, and strands of the hot wire touch strands of the neutral or ground wire (see Stand Your Ground). This causes a parallel short circuit and arc â and sparks may be ejected/can ignite nearby fine combustibles, such as paper.