ALMOST BURNED DOWN MY GARAGE!!!!!!

we did a rookie move. we should have know better. Mike (plan9) came by to help me.

well, after replacing head gaskets for the past couple of weeks. it took so long cause as long as i had it a part. i might as well paint the parts, right. i finally put it all together and was going to fire it up for the first time today. we couldn't get it to fire up. the fuel pump was working before i took everything apart but now it wasn't. so i disconnected the fuel line from the tank to the pump and placed it in a jar full of gas for a make shift gas tank. thinking that maybe the line could have been dirty. it still wasn't pumping.

so Mike and I decideed to pour gas down the carb and see if it will fire up that way. as Mike was pouring gas down the carb it back fired thru the carb and caught the raw gas on fire. Mike was still holding the jar full of gas in his hand. his arm started to catch on fire and he dropped the jar. the gl*** shattered and gas poured everywhere. as Mike ran to take of his jacket i ran to the fire extinguisher. by the time i turned back the flames where about 6' feet high. the fire was spreading down to the make shift tank i mentioned earlier. it could have gotten worse.

in the panic i was struggling with pulling the pin from the extinguisher. i turned off the fire and Mike was okay. he was lucky that the fire got his ****ies jacket and not his arm.

now the engine compartment is full of the white powder. as we where working on the motor earlier in the day i went and grab the extinguisher. so it would be with in 2 feet of us. good thing i did.

so this is for everybody PLEASE HAVE A FIRE EXTINGUISHER IN YOUR GARAGE. this could have been a lot worse. just glad we where alright. i was so shook up i had to have a cigarette and i haven't smoked in years.


Mike i'm glad your alright. your a true friend i would have hated myself if anything bad would of happened to you. THANKS

 

Glad everybody's OK. I had just talked to Mike on the phone, he didn't seem shook up, so it must have happened right after. Crazy.

 

holy jeeze! that ****s man. glad that no one was injured.

 

Nate, as soon as he hung up the phone with you it happened.

 

WOW!! scary ****. let that be a lesson to EVERYONE! i've had a couple scares in the past but never a fire quite that big. i prolly would have pissed myself !!!

 

I totally feel for the both of you,,,,,hope yer more careful next time--lucky sods! I caught my over processed hair (oh to be a platinum blonde) on fire New Years eve day....felt the urge to start smoking!
Brandy

 

Glad youre OK, and also the garage , car, etc.
I always put the gas in a beer can. (wont break)
You can still find the halon extinguishers, I have one in my truck and one in the garage. That **** in the regular ones ****s up everything. But I have them too.
People say I'm paranoid by having one strapped to each wall..
Guys like me/ you are the reason......
Hey any video of that exchange??

 

You guys were lucky! Could've lost everything
Our '32 Backfired through the carb and the air filter **** cought fire at a gas station about a year ago....thought it was steam coming up through the hood until we lifted the hood side to see the ****in' thing looking like a pissed off stove jet shooting flames a foot high..I did the exact same thing with the station's extinguisher too while dad was trying to blow air onto the flame
ALWAYS carry an extinguisher in the garage, car, any place where something can catch alight.

 

Carry at least a 5 pounder. My 2 1/2 didn't kill my fire and if it hadn't been for a p***ing trucker, I would have lost move than just the firewall forward.

 

Glad everything is ok. That dry chemical is nasty ****. If it gets in your motor you need to tear it down and clean it.

The last time I set my Catalina on fire I needed to use the dry chemical because I jumped out to put the fire out with a rag and forgot the fuel pump switch was still on. This resulted in watching me set the rag on fire, then my arm.
"****, my carb is on fire(again)!"
"****, my rag!"
"**** -my arm!"
"SONOFA*****! MY WIRING HARNESS! MY ENGINE"
"OW! MY ****ING ARM IS BURNING!"
From here I reached into the back seat for the little red miracle can. It's like preparation H, but for a different type of ***hole.

For all the new kids out there, before you buy that slick swivel ratchet, you better own a fire exstinguisher. I don't know what I use more, that, or my BFH!

 

That's tuff luck.

1: Pour gas into carb
2: Remove canister (put it on the bench, not the fender)
3: crank engine over.

4: if it backfires keep the starter running, it will **** the flames into the engine.

5: dont ask me how i know ;-)

 

Dante. Good to hear that you are both good to go. May that be the last cigarette that you smoke too! KNUX

 

I wont mess with gas doing that stuff anymore. Just had a freind of mine died before X mas putting gas on a kettle burner on his patio. I've heard of guys catching their arms on fire putting gas down carbs before. Then you see guys like OCC on discovery throwing gas on fires. I'm glad your ok and you saved the shop!

 

I once had a 69 BMW which needed some new sheet metal at the left inner fender and headlamp housing. I didn´t recognise that there was some wax inside the inner fender structure. So while I was welding the wax melted and started burning flowing out of the inner fender and making a burning puddle underneath the engine bay, right under the fuel lines...After a few seconds the complete left front of the engine bay was on fire.
While welding I always have a fire extinguisher next to me, so I grabbed it and thought I was save.... nada, nothing. That SOB didn´t work.
I ran into the house and got another one and put the fire out.
Since then I always have two extinguishers in the garage because one of them might fail....

 

Be careful Stoopid!

 

Man you guy's were lucky. Glad to hear you two are alright. later plmczy

 

When i was a kid i saw my Dad get badly burned the sameway while helping my uncle get his car started...His arm, side & leg were toast...I remember sitting in the kitchen w/my cousin while our moms were making dinner...It was dark out and the garage had a very small light in it...My cousin and i got so damn excited cause we heard the car start w/open headers so we tore a@@ outside only to see my father come running out from the garage towards us in a ball of fire..It was like right out of the movies as everybody tackled him to the ground trying to put the flames out...You think i would have learned my lesson then only to do the same thing a few years back..Some of us follow in our fathers foot steps tooo much

Dirty

 

A dude I know spent almost 12 months in hospital a few years back after doing the same thing. He had his head and upper torso really bady burnt, It ****ed him up real bad, He is now totally unrecognisable from what looked like before the fire, Face and hair was completely burnt off. Who gives a **** about the garage, you're both still here to tell the story.

 

Glad you guys are ok.

I still can't believe several of my friends DON'T run extinguishers in their rides..it's stupid.

Cheers

MAIKI

 

if you don't have a fire extinguisher, grab a soda can, shake it up and pull the pop top while aiming it at the fire.it won't work on anything big, but it might keep something small from turning into something big.

 

Kind of ironic that in order to calm down, you had to start another fire, stick it in your mouth, and **** on it to keep it burning! That ****s man, glad you are all ok

Mootz

 

Glad everyone is okay. Sorry for the mishap. Reminds me I need a good fire extinguisher

 

Lessons learned:
1:Fire extinguisher handy. 2 is better
2:NEVER put gas in breakable container
3our gas in, step back, THEN turn it over.
4:Follow 2 man rule when doing dumb ****!
5:Spread the word. Might save someone else from doing the same thing.

 

Good to hear you are OK. Just to repeat about dry chem that **** is very corrosive. I have have to overhaul a couple of electrical systems on ships I have been on due to that stuff. But on the the good side you are both OK.
Eric

 

wow, you guys are real lucky that he was not injured more by the fire....

i know a guy that something like that happened and his whole left arm and left side is really badly messed up.

at least you learned from it. glad your oK

 

man , o'man , o'man ... u guys are ****'n lucky. glad u guys are ok & nothing too serious happened.
i did that right after i bought my suburban, i was cleaning the carb while it was running & didn't know i had a cracked dist. cap. well it went up in flames, by the time i got it out it burned all the hoses & wires from the top 0f the motor & this was on the 3rd day i owned the truck...joe

 

Glad you guys are ok!

FONZI

 

[ QUOTE ]
so i disconnected the fuel line from the tank to the pump and placed it in a jar full of gas for a make shift gas tank

[/ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Mike was still holding the jar full of gas in his hand.

[/ QUOTE ]
This kinda tells me that it was more luck then judgment that you have a fire extinguisher in your garage

 

Me and buddy were welding a loader support on a small tractor in July, he was heating a bracket with a torch while I was pushing on it with a large cresent wrench trying to get it to move that last 1/4", my arm brushed a plastic line off the fuel tank and the diesel ran right on where the torch was thank God diesel doesn't react like gasoline or we wouldn't be here today.

I had 2 fire extuinghers next to us and the only problem was breathing in that sulpher powder trying to get out of the garage.

 

Gl*** containers do not belong in the shop. Not for beer, brake fluid and not GAS for sure.

I'm glad you guys are OK.

cp