Had a fire where a 250 watt bubl was placed into a recessed fixture in a kitchen soffitt. The fixture's markings indicated it was rated for 100 watts or less. The overlamping caused an overheating of the fixture housing and ignited adjacent framing materials. The fixture and bulb were still intact at the time of my examination.

Overlamping should not cause any overheating issues on the branch circuit wiring associated with the fixture. A 100 watt bulb draws just under 1 amp, while a 250 watt bulb is just over 2 amps. This is well within the current handling capacity of all branch cirucit wiring and of almost all extension cords. Therefore, the overlamping should have no adverse effect on the cable based strictly on the current draw.

Hope this helps!

Rich Kovarksy, P.E., CFEI
Pyro-Technical Investigations
www.ptiforensic.com