FIRE SAFETY in the garage...

i just wanted to remind everyone to be careful in the garage and to always have a fire extinguisher near by. one at each end of the garage is prefered, if not more. believe me if you have a fire you'll be glad you spent the money. i have a couple cheapy one time use ones in the garage and i have used them both. i used one a long time ago (i should have replaced it before now) and i just used the other today. boy was i glad i had that one and it was close. i could have had a major fire and explosion on my hands if i had'nt.
i went to mow the yard a little while ago and the lawn tractor (Briggs and Straton V twin motor) rolled over a little and then locked up. first thing i did was pull the one plug. it smelled of gas pretty bad. then i pulled the other plug. gas just POURED out of the cylinder. it seemed real odd to me that the cylinder was full of gas and i still have'nt determined how that happened. well i figured i'd roll the motor over and blow the rest of the gas out of the cylinders. so i hit the key for a couple seconds. POOOOF! the spark plug wire that is dangling there ignites the gas that is blowing out of the cylinder, DOH! now the side of the motor and the ground are ablaze and the fuel line and plastic filter are hanging right there in the fire. worst thing, i JUST filled the tank so there is about 5 gallons of gas sitting inches from the flames. i VERY quickly ran to the garage and grabbed the fire extinguisher (i was working in front of the garage) hoping to God that at least ONE of them was still full. it was and i put out the flames before they had a chance to do anything but mildly scourch the side of the motor and the brand new plastic fuel filter i'd just put on a week ago. i was seconds away from disaster for sure. the fire was too big to smother with my coat or anything so the only way it would have went out was with the proper fire extinguisher. just 6 feet in front of the tractor was a truck i'm not quite done doing a flame job on (it woulda realy been "flamed" had the tractor gone up) and 6 feet behind it was our 2002 GMC truck (which already has a flame job and does'nt need another one. not that way at least.).

i told CherryBlossom we are buying new extimguishers tommarow when i can get into the Granger Safety store at work. i'm gonna buy refillable ones, two for the garage and one for the house. i've been told that the fire department will refill them for you at little or no cost. the cost of an extinguisher is cheap insurance and could save your life.

i'm generaly pretty careful about that stuff but it only takes a second for a fire to start no matter how careful you are.

 

That's a good reminder for all of us kustombuilder. I have one in the garage and one in the car. Don't forget inside the house too. I have one by the fireplace, one in the kitchen and one upstairs by the bedrooms. I'm working on an actual fire suppresion system for my garage with a friend who does it for a living. Thanks for the reminder!

Bill

 

yeah, thanks. You get caught up in building the car sometimes and forget about the simple things that could save your tail!!

 

Thanks for the reminder. I always keep a cheap one by the mig cart,and a LAUSD(co2) one by the shop door. I.ve been meaning to get the co2 one reinspected,and filled,and buy some cheapie ones to keep in the shop at various locations. BTW I keep ones in the car also. BTTT Sparky

 

i must agree , I have them everywhere now . About 10 years ago I was putting the carb back on my race car and I wasn't quite finished tightening the back fuel fitting when the phone rang , long story short, I got back to it about an hour later and I looked at everything briefly jumped in and hit the fuel pump switch started cranking the engine (it was real high compression so I had a switch that cut power to the dist. untill it was cranking good) flipped the ignition switch and **** It was on fire. fuel had sprayed all over the distributor. I had a small extingisher in the car but never even thought of it. I ran out side and filled a five gallon bucket of water and ran back inside and tried to get it out then I ran back out and tried to hook the hose up that was stretched about 100 yards back to my garden. anyway I finally got it out but did a fair amount of damage to my garage, not so much to the car though. When the fire department got there(my neighbor called) they said I was lucky because everything that was behind me where I was standing to fight the fire was melted and some how I didn't get burnt. i did have some pretty bad smoke inhalation. As a side note if your car catches on fire in you garage you homeowners insurance will not cover cars or car parts only structure and garage contents ( I thought cars and car parts were "garage contents" )be careful!!!

 

my favorite extinquisher is my CO2 CANNON.

I shoot it every chance I get haha. Safety can be fun when your not preaching it...

You can become a real revrand online... for a $100.

I wana be Revrand Tuck.

Use jackstands or DIE.

haha.

 

Very good advice! The best $20 you ever spent!!!

I have two in our bedroom, two in the kitchen, one downstairs and one at the back door. All of my vehicles have one and I have three in the garage.

I have had them on my Christmas list since we got married. All of her relatives aks "why." I hope I never have to explain it to them....

Glad to hear you're ok....and your stuff

 

I have one in the kitchen and two in the shop

I keep them where the potential for fire is the worst

they can control a small fire but remember they are actually designed as an exit device

to clear a path away from the fire and get the hell out.

use your best judgement if you keep them by the door so you can run in to put out a fire.

Paul

 

hey guys,

just some more food for thought - buy the biggest extinguisher you can. a friend of mine experienced an engine bay fire and had one of those smaller dry powerder type extinguishers commonly sold for automotive use. pfffffffffft. empty. the total discharge lasted about 10 seconds. he went through two of those, a wall mounted C02 and a hose before he got it out.

second point. dont underestimate the usefullness of a fire blanket. very very effective for fighting liquid based fires. got one in the kitchen for fighting oil fires and they can really put a dent on fires in the garage. even if they dont entinguish the flames completely, they subdue enough to give that entinguisher a real chance of putting it out. also makes a useful exit tool as they can be used as a shield.

ask all my friends, im captain sensible when it comes to being obsessive compulsive about safty (can you say satefty gl***es underneath a full face shield LOL) but I always pop my fire fighting gear next to where im working if im doing anything involving the fuel or electrical system and always make sure I have a clear path to the exits in the shed.

Danny

 

I hadn't thought about a fire blanket, but that's an EXCELLENT idea!
Also--go to Granger or a good hardware store than can order stuff for you, and get a couple of those "FIRE EXTINGUISHER" labels with the arrow on them pointing to it. You know where your extinguisher is, but your buddies helping you in the shop probably don't. When you see a sign hanging on the wall, you tend to take notice of it. When the fire ignites, you're buddies will already know where the extinguisher is because they've taken notice of them. That won't happen if the bottle is just sitting there on the floor.

CO2 extinguishers also make your beer can cold INSTANTLY. Just another reason to have one around!
-Brad

 

I like to keep one big ol refillable water type around....water doesn't make as big of a mess as the chemical types....and when ya fill it up and pressurize it with yer air hose it will spray a cat all the way across the street (kid,dog ...whatever) I was selling some at a swap meet this weekend...everybody had a story about how great they were as water fight toys....but only sold one???

 

Learned this the hard way after a MIG spark lit some masking/newspaper on fire, followed by my PANTS and LEGS...
- keep the extinguisher near when you're welding or doing anything with the obvious potential to start a fire
- remove or shield all paper within 15 feet of where you're welding. Sparks fly far, especially when the metal isn't particularly clean.
- don't wear frayed jeans when welding
- it CAN and WILL happen to you otherwise

 

Actually, I saw a shop that had a fire extinguisher mounted to all their welders. Anywhere the welder goes, the extinguisher goes with it. I thought that was a damn good idea!
-Brad

 

What 60's Style said "exit device"...make sure you know where the extinguishers are .Best to mount them near the exit, don't let the fire get between you and the way out.Check your extinguishers monthly, never "test fire" a dry chem extinguisher as the powder fouls up the o-ring seal and lets all the gas out.Every so often turn the extinguisher upside down and tap it with a rubber mallet to loosen the powder. If an extinguisher sits for a long time the powder can "cake" and may not come out.
NEVER,NEVER, NEVER go back into a burning building.Lots of people are killed going back in to get "stuff". Stuff can be replaced.The only valid reason to go back in is to save someone.

 

Yup that's a good one. It's surprising how fast fire spreads. And when you're wearing a welding helmet you don't notice it right away. So be ready!

 

This is an important bit of advice. I was inside my cowl welding the inside of my firewall when I noticed it was getting brighter and my leg was getting a nice toasty warm.. I flipped my helmet to see the bottom of my leg was on fire!!! These were heavy (stand on their own) blue cardhart jeans with a few minor freys at the bottom! Toss your jeans at the first sign of freying!!

oh - just in case you were worried my leg is fine thanks to the fire extinguiser on my welding cart..

 

Great Thread with lots of good ideas on how NOT to burn down the house and garage. Don't forget you can put an extra smoke detector in the garage. One of the guys said that when you have a welding helmet on its hard to "see" a fire. A smoke detector will alert you to the fire when you're under the welding helmet. Just remember NOT to weld under the smoke detector.

Another thing that's not well known about smoke detectors. They deteriorate with time. Your local fire department will tell you that they need to be replaced every eight to ten years. Smoke detectors use a nuclear isotope of Americium to sense the smoke. Over time the Americium decays and loses its effectiveness. Therefore they need to be replaced. Home Depot and Lowe's has them for cheap, maybe $10 apiece. I've been in my current house 10 years so Memorial Day weekend, my "honey do" list has "Replace Smoke Detectors". My house has three, all direct wired so no batteries. I'm looking for a direct wire model with a battery in case of power failure. $30 every 10 years is cheap protection for your wife and kids. If the two legged kids are out of the house, you get to count the 4-wheeled kids.

AZAV8

 

don't forget you should ALWAYS have wheels on the car in the garage-
if a fire ever breaks you can at least save your project

 

Here is another tip that is probably not commonly known.
When using the Rubberized Undercoating in spray cans.....only apply this type undercoating when it can dry overnite, BEFORE any other grinding or welding is done within say 20 feet.......dont ask me how I know this!
IT IS EXTREMELY FLAMABLE AND VERY HARD TO EXTINGUISH TOO!

 

HAh! How long did it take for you to get an extinguisher in your rod!!!!!!
Second thing i bought for my car, after the flammable fuzzy dice.



Cheers

MAIKI

 

Just an idea I thought I'd p*** on. I bought a 5 pound halon extinguisher from the guy that refills the extinguishers here at work. He had taken it out of a business because it had p***ed its service life date. I got it for $40. I don't know what they retail for but mine will cost $120 to refill if I ever have to use it. I acquired the halon 2 days after having to spray down an engine bay with one of those powder bombs. It was a nightmare to clean up. Check with your fire extinguisher services there mght be similar deals out there.

 

im typing this (slowly) at my parents recovering from a burn sustained when my ute caught fire trying to control a gr*** fire on my farm..been off work eight days already.it ****ing hurts. the 1 kg extinguisher in the cabin was empty. The captain ****nob i work with had used it ages ago and not told anyone. do yourself a favour and have a look at the extinguishers you have...its too late to refill em when your on fire.
he is being sacked today.

 

"never fill with gas while hot, never fill inside building,...

Yeah I thought the big Kubota mower was cooled down and it was already in the garage. While filling with a 5 gal tank, the funnel fell over and - WHOOSH - the mower is on fire - in the garage - and the 5 gal. can I dropped is on it's side feeding the fire! . I ran to the house yelling - "call 911" and then ran back to the garage. I had three extinguishers which knocked the fire down somewhat but it took one more from a neighbor to put it out. By the time the Fire Dept. got there it was all over. They were pretty nice about not calling me a dumb-*** or jerk. They said they were glad I was somewhat prepared and called 911 before I tried to put it out.
I replaced those little fire extinguishers with a bunch of larger ones and put one in every vehicle I own. AND I NEVER-EVER will fill a hot machine in a garage again.

On this related subject, in my "working" garage I have a fuel storage steel cabinet. With teen sons and their motorized toys I absolutely do not allow any gas cans left out in the shop area. The often used welder, grinder and other spark producers should never be in the vicinity of fuel storage. Where do you do store fuel? - Is it safe and out of the "working" area?.

Powerband

 

I bought a nice one before I started fixing cracks in my truck frame. I wasn't comfortable lying under that truck welding. Oh, and I bought some of those fuel hose pinchers for flexible hoses, and clamped it back near the tank just in case I nicked one of the lines.

On your cylinder filled up with fuel -- one guess is a stuck carb float or needle and seat overflowing the bowl and dumping it all into the cylinder iwth the open intake valve.

 

hey mate,

they are good for paper, wood et al but uselss for chemical (and that includes flamible liquid) and electrical fires...

Danny

 

Gl*** houses man gl*** houses, sometimes it takes the lessons learnt by another to instill that importance in you *cough cough * ahahah

Danny

 

Please tell me its Cap'n **********...the one we've spoken of before thats getting fired. ****head!

Danny

 

yep exit the **********. it took a burn to 30% of my arm to convince my dad he was employing a bonafide *****.may he rot in hell.can you tell i have little time for the ****nuckle?

 

yeah mate,

never work with friends or family hey.

maybe we should rock around and beat 30% of that C***s body with a lead pipe.

danny

 

then i pulled the other plug. gas just POURED out of the cylinder. it seemed real odd to me that the cylinder was full of gas and i still have'nt determined how that happened. well i figured i'd roll the motor over and blow the rest of the gas out of the cylinders. so i hit the key for a couple seconds. POOOOF! the spark plug wire that is dangling there ignites the gas that is blowing out of the cylinder, DOH! now the side of the motor and the ground are ablaze .[/QUOTE]



My dad did exactly the same thing about 2-3 years ago. Very easy but also very silly mistake to make.