The SCTA makes it madatory for all support vehicles to have a 5 lb fire extinguisher at all times when racing. Before I started racing I never owned a fire extinguisher, well tonight I was out in my garage doin a little welding and on a table near where I was welding I had a heavy bike frame sitting on a big towel. A spark ignited the towel and man oh man did it go up quick! I saw flames and my whole life flash before my eyes, (not worried of my health but my stuff) I froze for a minute and then ran to my SCTA safety **** milk crate and grabbed the madatory fire extinguisher and saved all my ****. My garage is a total mess but my stuff is safe. I never thought to keep one in my garage but now it wont be without one or two! Just thought I'd share, thanks for listening and go spend $20.00 on some protection.
Ah, learning about preparation of the workspace when welding... A few years back, I was doing some exhaust work on a later-model production car with nylon fuel lines. I'd wiped all the parts down with acetone, proceeded to tack things in place, finished tacking the piece I was working on ... hmmm, what's that smell? Well, it's the acetone-soaked rag I'd thrown on the lift ramp right under the car's fuel lines, merrily blazing away. Grab, drop, stomp, stomp, stomp. No time for the extinguisher. Took me about five minutes to stop shaking. If it'd been something that burns hotter, or I hadn't noticed it when I did, I might well not be here...
Good to hear its just clean up and not burnt up. Had me a welding fire once. Didn't show its face for 30 minutes though. Good thing it wasn't after quiting time. Shop towels is what was smoldering.
Used one of mine when I had a backdraft in the woodstove, what a mess! All my Hotrods and the shop have em!
its bigger than 5 lb isnt it? Its funny cause the shirt I was wearing had a big burn hole in it from last time I was welding, maybe I should stick to my airbrush?
and for the record, the fast orange spray degreaser will not put out a fire....don` t bother....funny story though.....lololololol
here's another one....MAKE SURE there is no gas can in the welding area...I've seen a molten spark roll across the floor and melt a hole in a plastic can faster than you could imagine....just sayin'
I have 2 on opposite walls of the garage in plain sight, too many close calls before to not have them.
Thank goodness for smart things like safety gear. No shop should be without something like a fire extinguisher IMO. The other thing I will say is that I have some plastic gas cans, but definitely prefer metal. Metal doesn't melt in fires even if it is more expensive.
At my workshop, I have 3 extinguishers by the doors, keep 5 "flammable materials" self-closing cans spread around at convenient spots. Shop wiring is all in conduit or behind walls, J boxes all covered, and I have an engineered fire sprinkler system in the ceiling, too, required by the city when I built the shop in '05. I try to remember to pull all electrical plugs if I know I will be away for a couple days or more. I definitely worry about the possibility of fires there. Once when I was out of town, I started worrying about a leaky car I had left in the shop and even had my son go to the shop to clean up my floor and toss oily rags I had left under the car before a short trip. Too many horror stories about fires. The more preventive work and preparation we do, the less likely we will have a serious loss or accident. My worst personal experience was setting my cotton jacket on fire while MIGing on my back once. The front of the jacket was gone, but I did not get burned, and the fire did not spread. Now I have a leather bib. Be cautious and be prepared!
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