Garage fire. At least I got out unscathed.

[Kaleb]

I haven't been around here in a while, I know, so let me explain why. By the way, you may be in for a good read here, so please go through the post thoroughly.

A couple of weeks ago, I went out to the garage in the morning as usual to work on my projects.

As I walked out, I got the shock of my life. There was a whole pile of rags ablaze on top of my Dad's stereo system. I grabbed an extinguisher, but nothing happened, since I had used it to put out a burning metho spill some time ago. So I ran back to the house and my parents called the fire brigade.

Dad smashed the back window of the garage, pulled the garage fuse on the switchboard and I went back outside to help him get a hose onto the fire while we waited for help.

Meanwhile some passers by had stopped to help us, and the fire had become more intense, there were flames visible from the roof! We were fighting a losing battle with the hose, so I yelled out "Get the Camry(Mum's car) out of there! Or the whole place could go up!" So Dad jumped in, started it up and backed out into the driveway.

Just as Dad backed the car out, the fire brigade arrived. They grabbed their big hoses and rushed in. They hosed the place and dug stuff out of the roof space until there wasn't a fizzle left.

Later inspections revealed that my tooling and engines are okay, though my lathe tripped an earth leakage detector. The fire chief concluded that an electrical fault had started the fire.

The garage will need to have it's roof redone, and my lathe will need fixing, but I was praised for my quick thinking that had saved the car, the tooling and the engines. My parents tell me that we fared well, since the whole garage, or the whole house could have gone up.

So all this will mean that my projects will be on hold until repairs are completed, but I can still enjoy running my engines.

 

[b.lindsey]

Hi Kaleb,
Im glad there weren't any personal injuries and fortunately the material losses were fairly minor considering what could have happened. There are several good lessons here for all of us...not leaving loose rags about, and checking the charge on fire extinguishers and/or replacing them once used. Thanks for sharing the story and best wishes for a speedy recovery from the damages.

Regards,
Bill

 

[Deanofid]

Glad you and your family are all safe, Kaleb!
Sorry to hear about your new mess, but it sounds like it could have been much worse.
Everyone is OKAY! That's the main thing.

Best of luck!

Dean

 

[Peter.]

Sounds like a close call! glad it wasn't too bad.

This is why I have a small powder extinguisher on the door pillar of both entrances to my workshop, a fire blanket on the wall and a self-fillable water extinguisher handy too.

 

[bearcar1]

An underlying and often taken for granted situation may be lurking in some home shops that may or may not have contributed to this unfortunate calamity. Leaving loose rags that may have oil or other substances embedded in their fibers is definitely a no-no and the safety issues concerning the presence of a working fire extinguisher and its charge status has already been discussed (one can never discuss or stress safety enough) so I will not comment further on that subject but what has not been discussed is the common usage of extension cords and/or power strips in the home shop as well as the properly installed electrical wiring that conforms to local jurisdictional standards. (building codes) The reason I bring this up is that all too often I go into someone else's shop or out building to visit and share stories, only to find their machines being serviced by an extension cord that has been strung from a single and a lot of times ungrounded outlet. Or from an outlet that has obviously been installed and wired by the machine owner. Now if you are a licensed electrician with the appropriate credentials the later would not be a problem. However, improperly rated and installed electrical outlets in the shop, as well as our homes, is rarely discussed in any detail. I'm not stating that any of these conditions were present or were to blame for this incident, but I would strongly advise anyone that has done their own 'Handy Andy' electrical work to get it approved by a professional. Sure it may cost a few dollars or squid or whatever the regional currency is, but for the piece of mind it will bring and the property safety it provides, the end result is priceless, especially in the home shop environment. Just sayin' 8)

Kaleb, I'm glad to hear that you and your family are alright and that the damage was minimized and is repairable.

BC1
Jim

 

[rake60]

Sorry to hear of the property damage Kaleb.

I am just as happy to hear there were personal injuries involved.

Things can be replaced and repaired.
People can not be replaced and repairing them is often a painful ordeal.

Rick

 

[steamer]

What Rick said...The family is the important thing...the rest is just fluff.

Dave

 

[Maryak]

Kaleb,

Glad you and the family are OK. ;D ;D

Best Regards
Bob