I had one of those old irons that didn't turn off by itself, got it at a garage sale for $1. Got super hot which I liked too. But others have mentioned they occasionally forgot to turn it off. I did that a couple times, once for 2 days when I finally realized it. The following week I turned it on to use it and as I was pressing some fabric, it caught fire right where the cord goes into the iron itself. Sparks flying too and some dropped right onto my pressing board. Had just put a new silver type fabric cover on it too the week before. I pulled the cord out of the wall quickly and doused the ironing board with water as the batting under the silver fabric is cotton. Got lucky as I didn't get burned during the process. Boy was that a wake up call for me. Got myself a new iron with a auto shut-off which I still hate but rather be safe than sorry. I also added a surge protector and have the new iron plugged into it. I turn the iron off thru the surge protector button as I notice that light when its on. That was a close call for me as my house is over 120yo and made of wood. I tell folks that live near me that if they ever see my house on fire, grab the cats and brings out the marshmallows and hotdogs cause I doubt the firemen will get here in time to save it. We have a volunteer fire dept so you're looking at least 20-30 minutes before they response I suspect.