I have my sewing machine, iron and a nearby lamp on a surge protector, and I automatically shut it off when I'm not using them. Is that enough?
In fact, practically everything in this house is on a surge protector. We were hit by lightening a few years back, and even though the house was properly grounded, the lightening was so close, it blackened an outside and inside wall, blew a wall lamp off the wall, and fried every electronic we had plugged in, even if it wasn't on, except for a couple things like the fridge and range which had built in surge protectors. And I mean every electronic! My husband had a home office, and that meant his fax, copier, scanner, and 2 computer were history. We lost every TV in the house, and a whole bunch of other stuff. Even the blow dryer for my hair blew up. You can see why we use surge protectors now!
I remember when it hit. This shock of electricity hit me, knocked me down, and my hair stood on end. Scared the heck out of the dog. It wasn't funny. And I never leave the house with anything running: dryer, dishwasher, TV, nothing.
If anyone knows if turning off a surge protector would prevent a fire, I'd love to know.