It was my own fault when I left the non auto-off iron on for 2 days. Hadn't noticed it. Turned it off, didn't use it for the rest of the week until the following Monday. Turned it on and once it was hot enough I started to press some fabrics when it caught fire right where the cord goes into the iron itself. Startled me at 1st then I went into motion, unplugged the darn thing and ran it over to the metal sink. Of course before I went into action it had sparked some cinders onto my brand new silver fabric cover on my pression station but at least it didn't catch fire. Now I have a surge protector plugged into the wall and that's how I turn the iron on and off as I'll notice the light more readily than on the iron itself.