B737-900 captain was asked by the lead flight attendant to file a report on the possible overheating...

Narrative:

During preflight the lead flight attendant asked me to file a report on a possible fire hazard in our B737-900 aircraft. As he showed me; in the forward galley; there is a storage compartment located directly above [the] coffee maker. When [the] coffee maker is in use the heat rises and warms storage compartment up to the point that the items in storage compartment get hot. The lead flight attendant demonstrated this to me and showed me how hot the paper towels being stored in the storage compartment had gotten from the aircraft's previous leg when coffee maker had been in use. He tells me this happens all the time and although he has not thankfully had a fire he has experienced melting plastic trash bags and burning smells as a result of this issue. He states that because of the rising heat from coffee maker; the storage compartment above should not be utilized for storage; especially for paper or plastic items. Although not an expert; I tend to agree with him.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B737-900 Captain was asked by the lead Flight Attendant to file a report on the possible overheating of flammable items stored in the compartment above the coffee maker. After being shown how hot it was from the previous flight the Captain agreed.

Narrative: During preflight the lead Flight Attendant asked me to file a report on a possible fire Hazard in our B737-900 aircraft. As he showed me; in the Forward Galley; there is a storage compartment located directly above [the] Coffee Maker. When [the] Coffee Maker is in use the heat rises and warms Storage Compartment up to the point that the items in Storage Compartment get hot. The lead Flight Attendant demonstrated this to me and showed me how hot the paper towels being stored in the Storage Compartment had gotten from the aircraft's previous leg when Coffee Maker had been in use. He tells me this happens all the time and although he has not thankfully had a fire he has experienced melting plastic trash bags and burning smells as a result of this issue. He states that because of the rising heat from Coffee Maker; the Storage Compartment above should NOT be utilized for storage; especially for paper or plastic items. Although not an expert; I tend to agree with him.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.

Attributes
ACN	1385549
Time
Date	201609
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	EWR.Airport
State Reference	NJ
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	B737-900
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Parked
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Galley Furnishing
Person 1
Function	Captain Pilot Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 240 Flight Crew Total 21674 Flight Crew Type 8927
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Smoke / Fire / Fumes / Odor

B737-900 captain was asked by the lead flight attendant to file a report on the possible overheating of flammable items stored in the compartment above the coffee maker. After being shown how hot it was from the previous flight the captain agreed.