garage fire

chl

chl

Member
on the way to town we saw a garage fire just starting,the car, in front of us was already calling 911. we stopped and took care of the kids while the parents were panicking. the fire dept. is less than a half mile away, in the few minutes it took them to get there it was fully engulfed and the house windows were breaking, luckily they saved the house. all I know is that he was working on a car. sure got my attention for fire safety.
 
I had a garage fire about 16 years ago which destroyed the building, my cars and nearly took my wife. It's a long story as to how it started but the moral was NEVER think you are safe. Also, NEVER store flammable liquids in the workshop. I bet nearly all of you have some fuel, paint, thinners etc in your shop - a recipe for disaster. They only feed the fire so you have no chance of controlling it with your garden hose. Firefighters will struggle to control it too unless they use foam or something similar on the burning liquids when they finally arrive.
I now keep mine in a separate building just outside the garage door but separated from it by a double brick wall.
 
I asked a fireman one time if it might be a good idea to post a sign on the outside of my garage that an Oxy-Acetylene torch set and propane plumbers pots which I use to melt babbitt should be placed to warn fireman should a fire start and they become aware that those kind of items were stored in the garage. He thought it a good idea.
 
Synchro909 said:
I had a garage fire about 16 years ago which destroyed the building, my cars and nearly took my wife. It's a long story as to how it started but the moral was NEVER think you are safe. Also, NEVER store flammable liquids in the workshop. I bet nearly all of you have some fuel, paint, thinners etc in your shop - a recipe for disaster. They only feed the fire so you have no chance of controlling it with your garden hose. Firefighters will struggle to control it too unless they use foam or something similar on the burning liquids when they finally arrive.
I now keep mine in a separate building just outside the garage door but separated from it by a double brick wall.
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That's good advice. Tomorrow I move my paint thinners and kerosene out of the garage. It does leave two cars in there, though, each with 5-10 gallons of gasoline in them. :confused:
 
KR500 said:
I asked a fireman one time if it might be a good idea to post a sign on the outside of my garage that an Oxy-Acetylene torch set and propane plumbers pots which I use to melt babbitt should be placed to warn fireman should a fire start and they become aware that those kind of items were stored in the garage. He thought it a good idea.
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In this country, any building containing a dangerous substance, and let's face it, all of the flammable liquids in the garage are dangerous has to have a Hazmat or Hazchem sign on it. The codes on the sign tell firies what is inside. Without such a sign, there are serious questions about any insurance payout.
 
Synchro909 said:
In this country, any building containing a dangerous substance, and let's face it, all of the flammable liquids in the garage are dangerous has to have a Hazmat or Hazchem sign on it. The codes on the sign tell firies what is inside. Without such a sign, there are serious questions about any insurance payout.
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This only applies to industry and commercial and not domestic.
 
DON'T FORGET about oily rags that can FLARE off from SPONTANEOUS COMBUSTION!!! Get an approved container for them. If nothing else, submerge them in a bucket of Tide & water.
Bill W.
 
When I was on the rescue squad we had a garage fire.

Guy working on late 60's conv. Had wrench on battery and was feeding a cup with gas down the carb. He hit the glass of gas which was on top of the battery. Tried to catch it and hit the wrench into the terminals.

In the 10 minutes or so from the fire start till we arrived (FD already on scene) the garage was a full inferno. The Acetylene tank was a really cool blow torch with the flame shooting like 10 feet up. I point this out because they do not blow up. It did add to the fire, but not blow up. I would NOT keep/use propane inside as those tanks do blow up.

The guy has 2nd and third degree burns on the side of his body. He got to fly on a helo to a burn center.

As far as a sign telling what you have.
I would not do that.
You are admitting you have dangerous stuff with a sign and that could work against you at some point. Best to not let you neighbors know as some may make a stink for no good reason. The Fire department should know what they could be up against in a garage and have alread trained for it. I know my local fire department does. I have personally looked at my old thinners and what not and gotten rid of them. Others I have moved into my back garage where there no real ignition source as I keep the battery disconnected on the cars and it does not have electricity. It is a metal building too.
 
dave in australia said:
This only applies to industry and commercial and not domestic.
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Dave,
I've heard of insurance companies asking for them. Maybe because they knew there were lots of nasties in there even though it is a private garage. I've seen them on Private Garages too. I don't have one but I think they are a good idea.
 
Don't know about USA standards on propane bottles. but it is very rare a propane bottle blows up here in OZ.

For a bottle to blow up, it must be compromised in structure and break open and let the gas out in one go to mix with oxygen in the air.

A venting bottle on fire will simply burn itself out and never explode as there is no oxygen inside the bottle.

30 years ago, I was having an LPG system fitted to my car and was watching the guy working with an oxy flame with an LPG tank on ground nearby, it had a slow leak and it caught fire with a small flame , I jumped back and yelled, he turned, looked and just kicked the bottle away a bit from where he was working and let it burn .

A while later when I joined the bush fire brigade, I was not too worried about gas bottles after that.

Many house fires and auto burnouts with LPG, and never an exploded bottle.
 
pooch said:
Don't know about USA standards on propane bottles. but it is very rare a propane bottle blows up here in OZ.

For a bottle to blow up, it must be compromised in structure and break open and let the gas out in one go to mix with oxygen in the air.

A venting bottle on fire will simply burn itself out and never explode as there is no oxygen inside the bottle.

30 years ago, I was having an LPG system fitted to my car and was watching the guy working with an oxy flame with an LPG tank on ground nearby, it had a slow leak and it caught fire with a small flame , I jumped back and yelled, he turned, looked and just kicked the bottle away a bit from where he was working and let it burn .

A while later when I joined the bush fire brigade, I was not too worried about gas bottles after that.

Many house fires and auto burnouts with LPG, and never an exploded bottle.
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In TV footage of bushfires, you often see those 45 kg bottles venting harmlessly beside houses. That's what they're designed to do.
 
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