The 1890's home

I went to Salt Lake City for a home inspection for a client who was purchasing a home that was built in 1890. 
It would turn out that the exterior of the home was coated in plaster, which is a great heat conductor; meaning the HVAC system would not be very effective or efficient. Since I knew this, I wanted to see how much heat the home could be losing from the interior. I pointed my thermal imaging device at the home and found there to be three softball size areas that exceeded over 200 degrees Fahrenheit(!)- one spot even reached a temperature of 293.3 degrees Fahrenheit! I knew immediately what it was: it was an electrical fire. I ran and turned the electricity to the home off, then call 911. I informed the dispatcher what was happening and continued to monitor the temperature, which was slowly dropping since I had shut off the power to the house. If I hadn't used the thermal imaging camera, the home would have burned down.

Moral of the story: You never know when a home inspector could not only save you $$, but can save your life.