Electrical shorts are the cause for many house fires. There is a new type of electrical circuit breaker. This is different from the common ground fault circuit breaker found in most bathrooms. This breaker can sense a small electrical arc in the wiring. As soon as the arc is sensed, the circuit breaker shuts itself off. This shuts down the circuit long before there is any smoke or flame.
Most current electrical panels can be retrofitted with this new arc fault circuit breaker. Check your local yellow pages under Electric Supplies. See if they have the arc fault circuit interrupter that will fit in your circuit breaker panel.
The initial cost to switch all your breakers over might seem like a lot of money, but a house fire could cost you thousands of dollars. Or even save a life.