Auto Drip Coffee makers that keep the caref of coffee warm/hot for
hours after can be fire hazards.

Inside the base of the coffee maker is a metal heat strip that turns
the power for heating off and on to regulate the heat. It's just a
cheap 10 cent piece. As the strip gets hot enough it expands and
pulls away closing the electrial curcuit. As it cools off again it
contracts and closes the circuit to heat some more. It's a back and
forth cycle until you either unplug the unit or switch it off.

NOW, what can go wrong is that the cheap 10 cent electric/heat
regulator switch can get STUCK in the CLOSED position. I have never
seen it happen before to a coffee maker but I have seen this happen to
many toasters that I have owned in the past. It burns the toast and
smokes and soon enough starts a fire.

But most all coffee makers now are made of plastic. If the unit gets
hot enough the whole thing and melt and then suddenly burst into
flames.

They make coffee makers these days with no heat base. They just pour
directly into a coffee canister that holds a lot of coffee and is well
insulated to keep the coffee inside warm. Those are a good
alternative.

How big of a problem is this that I just described???