This is definitely a fire hazard. The metal bar you see is a dehumidifier tied to the wood rail with cotton twine. The dehumidifier was plugged in and very hot to the touch. To compound the problem, there was not controller on the dehumidifier so it was running hot 24/7/365. Needless to say I convinced the client to unplug the dehumidifier.

Below is what a correct system should look like with a Humidistat controller(and yes, I install these)