FIRE SAFETY in the garage...

Hey lowsuire,
How far out west is "way out west, Victoria"? I am a fireman and went to a gr*** fire where the guys ute caught fire and he got his arm burned about a week ago. It was around Rockbank. Was that you? Either way, hope your arm's OK.

Pete

 

Halon is an excellent extinguisher (Yellow body) but highly illegal in Australia. It is very bad for the environment and can land you a $20,000 fine. Just don't get caught!

 

Good Post. Other fire sources are oily rags. I worked at a s****yard that was run by a guy that wasn't always careful. I would find piles of used rags sitting in the sun growing hot. I don't mean just sun warmed. These things will spontaneaously combust. At that point I would submerge them in a bucket of water but they kept doing it. Just lucky he hasn't had a fire.

Use an oily rag can with a lid.

Also careful storing flamable stuff. I have cleaners and solvents in a metal cabinet but I'm begining to think that isn't good enough. I was just cleaning up stuff in the garage and found some stuff that should be disposed of sitting on a wooden shelf!!!

Thanks for the reminder, I need two new extinquishers.

 

yeh striper it was me.. thats pretty wierd.

thankyou for your help anyways..please feel free to pop in and make yerself known! are you fairly local? im guessing so.

 

Six degrees of separation. I live in Kilmore but work at Caroline Springs CFA. I was driving the first truck to arrive (Caroline Springs pumper).

That was so weird to read your post thinking what a familair story it was.

Hope the arm's on the improve... it looked pretty painful. Hope we catch up again sometime. (Different cir***stances)

Keep an eye out for my rough ol black 52 Chev with brush painted scallops and say gday

Pete

 

good post! I keep a fire extinguisher in all my cars too. yah never know what could happen. just ask tuck or bob bleed! even for X m***,, if i dont know what to give someone I'll get then a fire extinguisher. at first they usualy give me dumb look, but after they say that it was a good idea. its something that they wouldnt buy for themselves. Ive had a few close moments in the garage, but thankfully not big enough to get the extinguisher. another thing to look for is contents insurance. shure the insurance company will pay for a new garage....but will they pay for the thousands of dollars it tools yah have in there! thanks again for bringing this up!

 

Someone mentioned useing them as a means of escape--which brings up a good point--having an extra exit in your shop. You don't want to get trapped between a buring car and the only exit door.
My shop is 32 x 40--and when it was built, they couldn't put a door in the back wall because then it would have needed an outside light, electrical socket and an expensive set of steps (the ground angles, and the front of the shop is on the ground, the back wall is four feet up).
After I moved in, I put a door in the middle of the back wall--if the shop catches fire, I now have another way out. Screw the steps.
I do know a guy who ran an autobody shop. He had an original GT500 Shelby Mustang on the lift, putting a new fuel pick-up in the tank before delivering it to the new owner that weekend. Fuel spilled on the ground, and like he'd done a thousand times before, he went to the corner and flipped on the power washer to wash the gasoline out the bay door. As soon as he flipped the switch (which created a spark about 10 feet from where the gas was on the ground) the whole area flashed and blew him out the service door. The other guys in the shop ran out other doors. The Mustang blew up. Like in the movies blew up, and several collision repairs in the shop were totalled, as were two outside the rear door.

Think about waiting for a garage door opener to lift the big door--or not being able to open it because the switch is on the other side of the fire.
Just some more thoughts to add.
-Brad

 

Only about 1 month and the licence is back and I can come and annoy you regularily! mwu hahahahahahahahhaha

GET BETTER SOON BUDDY!

Hope it dosen't hurt too much.

Cheers

Maiki

 

To all my broke people out there with futons as your couch they burn really fast. So if you have one in your living room and smoke watch your ***. My no longer friend almost killed me and three other people in my house. After the fire started he paniced and left a neigbor made him come back in and wake us. It went from a samll fire to the whole thing in probably 30 seconds. I didn't have a fire extinguisher or renters insurance lost every thing I own and almost lost some of my pets and my life. Id say the smoke detecter came on well after we would have been dead.
Fire extinguishers rule I would of had only minor smoke damage if I had one.