Technical Hopefully people can learn from my mistakes

Man that sucks - I feel for you guys


And Don't EVER apologize for that panel truck, nothing to be ashamed of there!

 

man, what a nightmare. My condolences.

 

No sir my dad has been a sprinkler fitter for his entire life, but they are not designed for gasoline fires, water basically spreads it. And it got so hot every head popped and the 10 heads in the front of the shop each head flows between 15-30 gallons a minute. They are designed for 1 or 2 heads to pop. We didnt have the water main to support them


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It really did


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Wesley, Good advice on storing flammable liquids. I have all fuels, paints, thinners stored outside of the garage and sheds in their own a metal cabinets.

 

Sucks, had some cool toys in that shop!

Friends in high school were draining a gas tank. They had a small desk lamp under the car to see the job. Vapors built up, the lamp got knocked over. Its amazing they made it out unharmed. 2 oxygen cylinders and a dozen 4x8 sheets of Styrofoam fueled that fire to super heated. His car practically melted.

 

sorry for your loss, hurts just to see the pictures

 

so many of us have been through this , blessing is that no one injured ......

 

Sorry to see this. Hope you guys get to rebuild.
Tony

 

It is heartbreaking to see. Thank you for the reminder. I had a shop fire years ago and am more careful now but it doesn't hurt to be reminded now and then.

 

Wow, that really sucks. I'm glad nobody was hurt. I'll keep you and your family in my prayers....

 

I hate gasoline. I am thankful no one was hurt. Things can be replaced, people not so much.

 

Wes, sorry for your loss. Saw on another web site a guy in a video underneath his car looking for fuel leaks with one of those old fashioned drop lights that has a metal cage around a light bulb. Threw those old drop lights away years ago they are way too dangerous. I now use sealed LED drop lights.

Gary

 

Thanks for the warning. Despite your age, I'm happy to take a lesson from you. It's always best to learn from someone else's mistakes!

I'm in the process of outfitting a new shop space, and you just convinced me to install fire-proof storage cabinets for my flammable chemicals. Maybe I'll work on safer drop lights too. At least I don't have to worry about pilot lights on my furnace starting a fire. With a wood-burner as my only heat, I'm always acutely aware when there's a fire going in the shop, because I just started it. No gasoline draining on those days!

 

Wes,

You got out of the building okay and no one else was hurt. That right there is a win and you have been truly blessed. I realize that might be a little hard to see right now but it's the truth.

The building, cars, and tools are just "stuff". In the long run it doesn't make one damn bit of difference on how much stuff we have or if our stuff is better than another guy's stuff or if we ultimately lose all of our stuff as you are experiencing right now.

The truly important things are the people and the relationships in our lives. From the sound of it you and your dad have a pretty awesome realtionship. It sounds like you have been doubly blessed. I wish you the very best with the insurance and the rebuild. I suspect you and your dad will be back stronger than before.

Take care and be well.

 

In 1980, I let my younger brother work on his '29 Rdstr P/U in my shop...
I had a separate 'clean room' for engine assembly, (did a lot of O/T engines then, Porsche/BMW)
Late night, wife and I had gone home, li'l bro decided it was nice and clean in the clean rrom, moved the portable vise in there to grind his axle smooth. Sparks showering into the Safety-Kleen tang went up like a firebomb...then the back wall, as the lid to the Safety-Kleen tank slammed shut...
He grabbed the fire extinguisher off the wall, put the fire out...turned the water hose on, made a MESS in my clean room! (an engine was on a stand, case open, towel covering it went up too, ashes and water in the open crankcase...)
He treated it like a 'crime scene'...didn't clean or sweep up anything, only moved my grinders and his axle out of there. (I could see the track he left in the water and ashes on the floor)

His lying denial was the worst part. (track record...) Finally came clean, and refilled my fire extinguisher. Cheaper to disown than continue down this road.

 

The shop burning down is as bad as it gets, but it's all uphill from here.

 

That sucks, glad you guys are okay though, Everything else can be replaced.

 

Me and my dad started trying to make lists of everything we had in there. I know we will never get all of it but its a start for the insurance company. Gonna try to find a good private adjuster to handle the contents side of it. Again thankyou to everyone


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This is the nightmare that's got me looking into, and/or designing, an electric over hot water heating system.
Still, good advice on flammable storage. Paints, cleaning chems, and even lubricants, should all be kept in a flam locker or seperated outdoors.

Roger

 

Man that sucks. Good luck with the rebuild.


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Pretty much everything on this earth is replaceable, except the two of you. Sorry for your loss but glad you made it out ok.

 

That is just awful man! Literally makes me feel a pain in my gut with what you are dealing with...so sorry about all this loss.......take a deep breath, and one step in front of the other....man, that is a real bummer....I'm extremely happy nobody was hurt!!!

 

I wasn't sure what a Dearborn heater was, so I had to a search. I assume it was floor mounted? Gas pilot light?
Seems like people in warmer climates tend to use temporary heat sources that put shops at risk. In the North most (not all) are permanent install and hanging (less susceptible for fume ignition).....And we tend to use them 6 mos out of the year....and probably have more of a routine for checking...or at least we should.

I know of a guy that used a mobile home furnace and mounted on the floor in his shop. His garage didn't burn to the ground, it exploded first and then burned! Not much was saved.

Thanks for sharing and the reminder!

 

Damn Dude, So sorry to see this happen to you or anyone for that matter.

 

Sorry to hear about your loss, Wes. Another thing to keep an eye on is leaves blowing into your garage. Back in the 80's, a neighbor came home from working the afternoon shift in the fall. He always left the garage door open, and leaves had blown in. He parked his old Ranger in the garage, closed the door and went to bed. Around midnight, we heard sirens. This catalytic converter was hot and slowly ignited the leaves, burning his garage, house, his late dads' vintage Harley, and even melted the neighbors vinyl siding. They all got out okay.

 

That stinks!
I never drop a tank in my shop. Always do them outside even in the winter. If it's too cold I wait for a warm day!

 

My condolences. I lost a shop in the late sixties - a radio on wooden shelving shorted out.

It's a very traumatic experience.

 

This is the style heater i had, it was barely cracked on, has a gas burner in the bottom and heats the ceramics to disperse heat. It was on so low i didnt even notice it and it never crossed my mind to check before starting.



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This could easily happen to any one of us at any time. Glad you are OK, and it didn't spread to your house. Onward and upward brother.