Fires at home

[Rifleman]

Well i was up late tonight logged in to i hate mud and heard the sound of large diesel trucks pulling up in front of my house. It seems that my next door neighbors house caught fire. After the fire men put out the fire i ask them what started it. It seems that a pile of clothes left next to the washer and hot water heater started the fire. Good thing is my neighbor and all her daughters got out safe and sound. They had a family plan of what they were going to do in case of a fire and they had a prearranged place for all of them to meet once they were all out of the house. On top of that all three of their dogs made it out safe too. I tell you what i am doing tomorrow, i am going around my house looking for overloaded outlets along with other items that could start fires. Then i will Check all my smoke detectors, and go over my family's fire escape plan once again. You never think a fire can happen to you, but it SURE CAN!!!! SO HAVE A FAMILY PLAN!!!!

 

[Weedhopper]

Yeah

Last week I was looking for something in the garage. My son left a Bernz O Matic type torch in the garage. The torch had a push button igniter.

I moved a couple of things, then I heard a sound like the flame from a hot air balloon. It took a minute to realize what was happening, but by moving things around in the garage the torch fell over and something pushed the ignition button and lit the torch. The torch was on its side heating up something nice and flammable when I dug deep enough to find it.

Glad I was around to catch that one !

 

[canman]

About ten years ago, the sheep farmer's house down road caught fire and burnt to the ground. Fire was caused by creosote build-up in his chimney. Apparently, he never had it cleaned out according to the guy that cleans mine. They only had a few minutes to get out, and were only able to grab a few photos and their computer. He rebuilt and installed an outdoor wood furnace.

 

[rustybucket]

It is amazing how fast a fire can travel. Some times it can travel at blazing speeds. Fire is not what kills people, but smoke inhalation. In that smoke is Hydrogen Cyanide from Foam Sofas. Carbon Monoxide, and other deadly and toxic Gasses. If a fire starts, you often have no more then two minutes to get out of the house. Your neighbor was smart...buy putting a plan together and where to meet. I have seen horrible cases of panic where a dad or wife left the baby on the second floor deck while they jumped to the ground. The baby did not make it. Or three people died at the back side of the front entrance of the house. IF the apartment building does not have firewalls in the attic spaces, fire can travel clear across the attic space.

Last week, one of our church member lost there house to fire. There was some 5 foot shrubs next to the house. Kids were loitering next to it. They lit the bush, it went up in flames and the flames were hitting the underside of the roof near the gutter. The flames went into the attic and traveled all the way to the other side. Top side of house is a loss. Basement of the house is water damaged but the sheet rock can be replaced.

All us members got together and moved out the bottom two families the day after to new apartments. Top floor had to wait for a safety inspection. All the families were in good spirits during the move because no one was insured or killed.

Good idea to always have leaver boots, flash light and 5 min oxygen mask face shield. DO not have bars on the windows. That caused a family to loose there life because the firefighters could not get into the house.

If you are in a hotel, always remember to count the amount of doors from your hotel room to the stairway exit door. That way, you can count each door, Because YOU CANNOT see the exit sign or door number if crawling on the ground and the smoke is thick.

Well i was up late tonight logged in to i hate mud and heard the sound of large diesel trucks pulling up in front of my house. It seems that my next door neighbors house caught fire. After the fire men put out the fire i ask them what started it. It seems that a pile of clothes left next to the washer and hot water heater started the fire. Good thing is my neighbor and all her daughters got out safe and sound. They had a family plan of what they were going to do in case of a fire and they had a prearranged place for all of them to meet once they were all out of the house. On top of that all three of their dogs made it out safe too. I tell you what i am doing tomorrow, i am going around my house looking for overloaded outlets along with other items that could start fires. Then i will Check all my smoke detectors, and go over my family's fire escape plan once again. You never think a fire can happen to you, but it SURE CAN!!!! SO HAVE A FAMILY PLAN!!!!

 

[Chris Wilcox]

I had a pretty big brake clean fueled fire in my garage one night. This fire threatened my long term FJ40 project and of course all my garage and tools. I was knocked to the ground and barely out of the flames when I came to my senses seconds later. Luckily I had a big fire extinguisher at the door. It was VERY simple to walk over, grab extinguisher and extinguish fire. No fire dept required. Some small items were lost and about 2 weeks to clean it up but all in all the extinguisher saved my assets. The next day I dropped it off for a recharge and didn't do ANY hotwork until i got the extinguisher back.
I echo the other posters above. Be prepared, whatever prepared looks like for you.

 

[alia176]

I live in wildfire zone so during the summer months with low RHD, my paranoia ramps up quite a bit. Having a fire evac plan for humans and animals is always a good idea. Also, keep those ammo at a safe place that won't be affected by fire!!!

 

[dirtyboots]

@Chris Wilcox how did the brake fluid ignite?

 

[dirtyboots]

Counting the doors to the exit of a hotel is a great idea...Too bad I can barely remember my room number when I travel much less the doors to the exit...Guess that's Darwin

 

[Chris Wilcox]

Brake fluid ignited doing something VERY VERY STUPID on my part.
I was plasma cutting and forgot to move the ~90% empty 5gal can of brake fluid.
Cutting from that punched through the plastic pour spout and boom. Next thing I know I'm on the floor in a daze with ringing ears and a raging fire.
Could have been much worse.
I can't emphasize enough the importance of good housecleaning practices and safety measures because when it goes wrong it is often preventable.

 

[LINUS]

Something I'll add since we are the demographic of guys who would have shop/garage fires -

If you can ever get your hands on old fire extinguishers, GRAB THEM & GO PRACTICE!!!

I have been a refinery worker, a sulfuric acid plant mechanic, and along the way been member of the fire, haz-mat, and medical teams - while the refinery had the full trucks/hoses/bunker gear - the acid refinery didn't.

Fire training @ the acid plant was done with basic fire extinguishers - and it's amazing how WELL you can do, or how POOR you can do - all by virtue of experience with one.

We all learned with a basic 3"x12" unit, you need to be super aggressive to kill a fire even 1 gal of heated gasoline can sustain - heated surface / VOC's are far more stubborn than cool/fresh start fires.
(Irony there was the 1st volunteers had easier fires to put out, shy/new people had the hotter pans of gas/hotter prop surfaces, so theirs were stubborn fires)

If you work anywhere that rotates out old fire extinguishers, please think about using a couple & training yourself - we all buy them, but I bet maybe 10% of us have pulled pin & have used.

You get an idea the "dent" each one will do, and you may even decide you need 2-4 more in your shop than the token one by the cutting torch.

 

[firestopper]

PASS!
P-Pull pin
A-Aim
S-Sqeeze
S-Sweep
As Linus has stated, impressive fire can be put out with proper fire extinguisher training. Most folks are too far away from the fire when they attempt to extinguish.
Hot work requires attention. A cluttered hot work area is a recipe for disaster. Oily rags will haunt you just the same. One thing I have been doing for years after performing hot work in the shop is to crank up the tunes,mopen a beer (or two) and clean up. This practice provides time to ensure nothing is smoldering. The bonus is, the next day starts fresh with no clutter or hunting down tools.

 

[canman]

I had a pretty big brake clean fueled fire in my garage one night. This fire threatened my long term FJ40 project and of course all my garage and tools. I was knocked to the ground and barely out of the flames when I came to my senses seconds later. Luckily I had a big fire extinguisher at the door. It was VERY simple to walk over, grab extinguisher and extinguish fire. No fire dept required. Some small items were lost and about 2 weeks to clean it up but all in all the extinguisher saved my assets. The next day I dropped it off for a recharge and didn't do ANY hotwork until i got the extinguisher back.
I echo the other posters above. Be prepared, whatever prepared looks like for you.

A local teen died in 2011 during an unofficial high school project to make a barbeque out of a used 55 oil drum. It exploded after some fumes were ignited while he was grinding. The parents have filed a $400K lawsuit.

http://www.ottawasun.com/2014/04/03/eric-leighton-inquest-jury-presents-findings

 

[Weber Sarge]

I have a standing 30-60 minute fire watch policy when doing hot work and nothing will make me deviate from it - this has paid off twice as hot sparks started surrounding materials to a slow smolder . It's a great practice to use that time for cleanup and helps a guy notice any smoke or odd odors while doing it . I cringe to think what would have happened in those two times had I walked away . Practicing with an extinguisher is a great idea - may want to check with local fire dept as some have small classes that are hands-on in technique and usage of different types of extinguishers . Best bet is to practice safe working habits up front and be proactive instead of reactive . Keep a clean work area - have a designated grind/cut area free of combustible materials , ect ...

I'm looking into some of the new extinguisher mixes so I can keep fresh home units that are highly effective and avoid the high cost of keeping good charged units around the shop/building -
http://www.coldfiredirect.com/Cold-Fire/?gclid=CLTM_-Kpj8YCFVY0aQodLGIAqA#_l_1b

Sarge

 

[cruiserpilot]

I think you are all right. Noticed how all of these events can be avoided? I'm paranoid about fires as I leave family at home
for extended periods of time. I don't just sweep my chimney every spring, I actually remove the piping inside the house to physically
inspect the inside. I have a chimney brush for the dryer ducting, and it is swept and vacuumed every spring. I have looked at fire
extinguisher for the shop, but my excuse is garden hoses everywhere. But not good for gas / oil / grease fire. Will rectify that very
soon. I'm terrified of fire; I do have an extinguisher in the house, 5 ft from the kitchen, 10 ft from the air tight stove.
I also inspect and sign the tag myself every year. Geez, now I think I'm just nuts..

 

[Weber Sarge]

No , you're being proactive - not reactive and it works out a whole lot better in the long run , trust me on that .
Sarge

 

[half k cruiser]

A little tip for your extinguishers. Once or twice a year, hold them upside down and whack them a bit with a rubber mallet. This un cakes the powder from the bottom. Another tip, sleep with your bedroom doors closed, and when your not home, close doors. This makes a marked difference in fire extension and keeping smoke out of rooms.

Also, here is the most common causes of house fires I have seen in the last year....

#1 Improperly disposed of smoking materials: in the mulch, plastic buckets for ash trays, rolling under the deck, etc. Essentially people toss there smokes somewhere near the house, fire starts, wicks under the siding then works its way into the stud spaces.

#2 Grill on deck: if I had a deck, that's where my grill would be. However, its a terrible place to run a grill. The fire that starts on the deck will quickly catch your siding and then work its way to upper floors and roofing. Once it hits your soffit it will soon be in the attic. There will be a significant amount of damage both from the fire and the overhaul required to chase the fire.

#3 Electrical : do you know why firefighters are always harping about extension cords and overloaded outlets ? Because they cause a lot of fires !

Note: even a small kitchen fire brought under control quickly is going to cause you a boat load of damage. The smoke alone is going to get into everything that's not behind a closed door. What the smoke doesn't damage will probably get wet from a hose stream or broken by a fire fighter. Some crews are better trained then others and will do there best to protect your property and minimize the impact they have. Others will destroy everything with no regard for anything but fire extinguishment.

 

[Rifleman]

Half k cruiser. that little trick about pounding on the bottom of the extinguisher i learned years ago. When i was a kid, one of the first jobs i had right out of high school was selling and servicing portable fire extinguishers. My company put me through a training program, i then had to be tested by the city fire department, before they would issued me a license to sell and service extinguishers. I remember that Per insurance requirements, portable fire extinguishers had to be inspected once a year, so turning them over, and making sure that the dry chemical powder would "drop" was part of that inspection. Now if you didn't feel that drop, we would use our little helper, better known as a 3 pound rubber mallet to help it drop. After doing that job for about a year I moved on to installing and servicing automatic fire extinguisher systems in restaurants. Someday i will tell you the whole story of what happens when you forget to pin two, 20 pound extinguisher bottles before you cut the fuseable link above the hoods. Lets just say that kitchen looked like a snow storm went through it, I though that restaurant manger was going to have a heart attack, thank God our company had good insurance!

 

[shelfboy1]

most fires start as small fires and having fire extinguishers every where has worked for me twice along with smoke detectors .also have the garage hooked up to the house with smoke detectors as we have volunteers and as good as they are it takes them a while to get to a fire out here .hope no one needs them