Almost burned down my Garage

[Iseman]

Be careful guys, about 4:00 this afternoon I was putting new carpet in my bassboat. I was installing the very last piece below the consoles. I had put the contact cement on the floor and some of the carpet, I was waiting for things to dry. The Garage door was open as well as one of the rear french doors open for ventilation with a large fan in the door. Had stepped out of the boat and had my back to the boat when I hear a boom. I turn around and my boat had 3 ft flames coming out of the console area. Like an idiot I jumped in the boat and ripped the carpet out and tried to stomp the fire out. Melted my shoes and burned my face. Then I realized I was standing on top of the plastic gas tank, 1/2 full 50 gallons. I jumped out of the boat grabbed my wifes new pup that was sleeping on the front deck and hauled *** out. I ran to my other garage and grabbed the large fire extinguisher. Just couldn't let my boat and garage burn up without doing anything so I ran back in. Luckily it didn't blow up. It distroyed my bass boat but did no damage to my garage. I still have no idea what set the glue off. I've been waiting to glue the carpet down until the weather allowed me to open the garage door for proper ventilation.

 

[Bull]

Holy freaking ****, man. I'm sorry about your boat and your injuries, that's serious stuff. Glad you were able to save the situation from going from bad to worse i.e. whole garage burns down. It was risky to run back in there, but I am sure the adrenaline was pumping and you weren't thinking about running for the phone to call the FD.

I will be eager to hear what others have to say about why the glue/cement just spontaneously combusted like that...very scary.

 

[TheGrooveking]

Glad you and the pup are alive! All those fumes were looking for were the right amount of oxygen and a source of ignition, which did you have a heater going?

TheGrooveking

 

[crashbumper]

WTF?!

Spark in electrical system?

WTF?!

 

[Iseman]

It was risky to run back in there, but I am sure the adrenaline was pumping and you weren't thinking about running for the phone to call the FD.

Like you said Bull, a million things were going thru my mind. What pissed me off is I couldn't think of where the boat fire extinguisher was located. I had to remove it to put in the carpet. I thank god I had the big fire extinguisher. I'm thinking some electrical spark or something.

 

[CharlieM]

The fumes could of accumulated under that dash there. Was there any electrical equipment that has some sort of power ? Or could have been remotely warm ? Since the other dash was good, probably because there was no heat source to ignite the vapors.....IMO.....

 

[Iseman]

Glad you and the pup are okay! All those fumes were looking for were the right amount of oxygen and a source of ignition, which did you have a heater going?

TheGrooveking

No heater. That's why I was waiting for warmer weather to finish the job. I've been working on this for 2 weeks. The glue has to have temps above 65 degrees to set. Like I said earlier, I think maybe electrical. I'm just glad I wasn't laying down under the console when this happened.

 

[autoclassicnut]

Carpet could've had a staic charge to ignite the fumes...The very same one you get when you rub your feet on the carpet with socks on and touch someone...

 

[mad57]

Static is probley the cause. i install carpet with dry heat and fresh glue its possible.

 

[Mr Mushman]

Wow ! ! ! What the ??? ...

Thank God you were at least far enough and your back turned away from it, to not get hurt, it could have been SO MUCH worse. I always try to look at the positive side of things when something does not go, quite the way I would like it to go, even if at the time, it usually is pretty hard to find anything positive about the situation ... The main thing is that you are OK, that the pup is OK and that you were able to jump back in there to save the garage ! ! ! That's when we have a close call this one, that we realize, we are never quite really prepared for the worst ... Fire extinguishers are definitely a no brainer in a garage ...

 

[RobSmith]

Wouldn't you do this sort of work outside ?

 

[walrus]

Thats some scary stuff right there, anything electrical that might have turned on automatically? Glad you're ok, ***** about the boat. Nice lookin pup you got there

 

[bry@n]

Thank God you and the pup are safe. Another boat can always be had.

 

[Nostraquedeo]

That's crazy! Well, maybe you'll get a new bass boat out of the deal.

 

[Dmaxman]

Good to know you are ok. Amazing how things can happen in an instant. Knew one guy who was a carpet installer and was doing a job in a dentist office. Not sure if they were laying carpet or tile but they were using some sort of glue adhesive and his helper decided to have a smoke. Well that dentist chair was worth over 10K....wonder how they found that out....lol

 

[STORMEASTON]

That kinda stuff is my biggest fear in the garage.


Glad your O.K.!

 

[Piper]

well not being able to tell exactly what caused ignition one point to keep in mind is that the fumes from contact cement are heavier than air. This means of course that they'll pool in low areas. So, I'd be thinking some sort of electrical spark or arcing that happened at a connector. You'll likely not find the cause with the damage that has occurred. The good news is you're ok, dog, ok, garage ok. Boat, well...

In my clinic I use contact cement and many other adhesives like this. They are used on a down draft table. When I can't do that I always have a large flowing source of air from fan or dust extractor etc (running before I start gluing so fumes can't build up and then be exposed to motor spark).

Bottom line, holy ****, but glad you're all ok.

Piper

 

[StumpXJ]

Sorry about the boat, truly.


But, that is the cutest damn choc. lab (?) ever.

 

[Jay H 237]

You're lucky! I bought 2 fire extinguishers for the garage a few years ago, haven't ever needed them but wanted them just in case.


Is the boat really that bad? From the pics it seems fixable, rip out the burned rug and clean up the fire extinguisher powder and it won't look as bad. The dash area seems intact still, although maybe it needs repair where the flames licked it underneath.


Of course you could always just take it out on the lake as is........it would be like what John Candy and Steve Martin did with that 1986 LeBaron convert in 'Planes, Trains, and Automobiles'!

 

[Kevin54]

Wow!!!! Very glad that you are OK and no more damage than what already happened. It could have been way worse.

It's also my guess that it was caused by something electrical. I've used Contact Cement on numerous occasions and have never seen anything like that. I would imagine that there was an electrical short somewhere and although it was the glue involved it was not the fumes itself. I would say something shorted and ignited the fresh glue. It may be hard to tell where it originated as the wiring jacket is probably melted off a few of the wires.

Although too late for you, but for anyone working on something like that whether car, boat, or anything, would be to disconnect the battery.

I don't know how sharp the insurance guys are, but they may be able to look into it and possibly find the source of ignition. I imagine everyone is curious as to what actually started it.

Again...glad to hear it was not worse than what it was. Hell of a way to wrap up the year of start a new one

 

[VC-Racing]

Dang thats definitely messed up. Don't mean to jack this thread ,but This is the main reason I'm being somewhat **** about putting the correct type of heating unit in my shop. All it takes is something to disturb those vapors/fumes and WHAM, instant explosion. You may be able to do the same thing several times, but it only takes 1 in order to cause damage or death.
Back to topic.

Glad your OK .

 

[Nighttrain]

ISEMAN, I have had a similar situation working on boats before, although not a fire as in your situation. While restoring a boat I pulled the console up to repair decking underneath. The big wire bundle running up to the console was twisted and started to arc. It burnt up several wires. Even with the battery switched turned off there were several live wires running up to the radios. I guess the best defense is to unhook the battery. Glad you didn’t get hurt worse. I just checked the two small extinguishers in my garage (off an old boat of mine) and both were bad. I WILL BE GOING OUT TODAY TO GET A LARGER FIRE EXTINGUISHER FOR MY GARAGE> How about everyone check their extinguishers today. Thanks for sharing your experience with the forum. A happy and safe New Years to everyone. Now off to by fireworks for tonight.

 

[Junkman]

If you are using a dry powder fire extinguisher, you need to turn them over every once in a while and give them a whack with a rubber mallet, so the powder at the bottom doesn't get caked to the point where it will not work when needed. The gauge will show that there is pressure inside, but if it is caked, then the pressure can't get it off the bottom of the extinguisher. In my commercial space, I have to have this done once a year and a new tag put on. After x amount of years, they need to be pressure tested and re certified. When you have a lot of extinguishers, it can get expensive to have them serviced, but if you don't, you are giving your insurance company an out if you have a fire.

 

[crankshaftdan II]

Sorry to hear of your loss, could have been much worse! Do you have a gas hot water heater in the corner of the garage? These have the standing pilot or sparkless igniter which is also dangerous in most fumes as they tend to linger close to the floor. Most garage water heaters here have to be elevated a minimum of 12" off the floor for safety reasons. Just a thought on my part for safety!

 

[Ron Lombardo]

Wow .. very close call ... the fire started where ever you see the most damage ... from the pics ... under the dash where its most melted ... did you have the radio on, which may have caused a spark ? Damn lucky and god thinking..grabbing that little puppy.

 

[Cobra4B]

Wow... glad you saved the pup... he's adorable. Thanks to this thread I'm going to get a new extinguisher for my garage. I have an old on up in a cabinet.

 

[djd99]

You did get very luck that only the boat was damage as it could of got way out of control fast. I'm glad it worked out the way it did being, not hurt and your garage is still standing.

I have a similar story almost burning down my garage also. I was trying to get my old 71 ford pick running when she backfired out the carb and sprung a gas leak. Flames were all the way to the ceiling and getting out of control, luckily I shut the hood to get the flames off the ceiling and started spraying water through the wheelwells. Dam I was glad I just got the new well as I had a ton of water pressure and was able to put it out. I was ready to pull the truck out and let it burn if I had to. I didn't have any fire extinguishers in the shop. Witch now I do, lesson learned.

 

[dawg]

seen it happen up here fiberglass boat
carpet install.
same thing\static buildup and boom.
dont rub carpet to smooth it out you must roll it.
a fan is a must aswell to disapate fumes

 

[lambeau]

Yowza. Glad you and your garage are okay. On the positive side, I bet alot of us will be checking / purchasing fire extinguishers. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Iseman]

Thanks guys, I feel I justed dodged a big one. The big fire extinguisher was a life saver. I knew that the glue was dangerous, that's why I had the big fan going in the garage door. Because of the design of the boat I'm guessing the fumes just settled into the hull. Something you guys mentioned was static discharge. This was the first time I folded the carpet over itself, I was doing a large area and could only glue 1/2 at a time. I think the best thing is to have the fan pointed directly at the work area, not just circulating. I think the boat is a total loss. The wire harness, hydrualic steering, all the gauges, and one of the depth finders are all in that council. I'll try and get a better picture, but the whole council is melted. Man I loved this boat, it's going to be hard to replace. I'll have to see what the insurance company wants to do. The good news is I had it insured under an "Agreed" value with no depreciation.

 

[jpoe]

People, never ever go back into a burning building, or a building with something(boat) burning in it. You got very lucky. Things can be replaced, you cannot. Not to mention, spending time in a burn unit is not anyones definition of fun.

Fire will grow faster than you think and you were very lucky to make it out of there at all!

 

[wrigh003]

Whoa. I think I just made up my mind as to whether to do the new laminate for the kitchen counters outside or in place in the kitchen.

Glad you and the dog are OK, sorry about the boat.

 

[TheShrine]

Glad it turned out OK! We don't need another death or injury here in Kerrville. Did you here about the one yesterday, down on 16 and Upper Turtle Creek, by my place? 4 cars with 1 dead, 6 hurt, 2 in the hospital. Someone not paying attention and rear ended a Prius and......

Love the pup. I just got me a new one myself.

Stay safe!

 

[krooser]

My bet is static electricity...

I've been burned twice... once when my GTO erupted in flames after the fuel line split and I tripped and fell into the burning gasoline... the second time was when I was lighting an old oil stove and the methanol I was using to lite it caught fire and I spilled it on myself... burns are no fun.

Hope you are better...

 

[rwhite692]

Glad you and the pup are OK. I was a boat mechanic back in the day and have seen and heard the static sparks that can be generated by that carpeting when it is being unrolled and laid in.

I will be adding a couple more extinguishers to my garage!

Thanks for your post, you just might save someone from a similar misfortune.

 

[torqueman2002]

Man! Glad to hear you, the pup (v. cute! we have a 6 month old chocolate too), and the garage are OK! I wish your burns heal quickly.

You'd think with the doors open and a fan to move the air you'd be OK. BTW - was it pulling air out or pushing air in?

The reason I ask is, as unlikely as it may be, if you are pulling the air/glue mixture past an un-shielded motor, it could be an ignition source.

Just a thought.

I'm going to check both my garage and both my basement and all my house extinguishers.

 

[ghnl]

Glad the only thing you lost was a boat!

FWIW, water-based contact cements are available and work very well. I use them for countertop construction (gluing plastic laminate to substrate). I have also used it when replacing convertible tops (MG, Alfa Romeo & Chrysler Sebring) so I suspect it'd be fine in a marine environment. 3M FastBond 30 is one example. It also has the useful property of changing color when it is ready for bonding.

 

[Iseman]

I think it would be a good idea for the moderators to post a New Years resolution that everybody on the board do a fire extinguisher check. Make sure you have a good one and it's fully charged. I can vouch that having a good fire extinguisher saved my shop. As far as going back into the building, I agree you shouldn't, but like most on the board, all my tools, boat, and the building would have been destroyed and I was really pumped up and didn't want to lose my shop and equipment. Additionally I'm going to look at my home-owners insurance and make sure I have enough to cover all my tools and the building. I gonna bet I don't have enough.

 

[torqueman2002]

+1

Amen!

 

[e-tek]

Wow - sorry to hear this! Glad you're OK tho - thanks for posting it.
While I've never been involved in a garage fire, I have heard of a few situations with terrible consequences - which have made me paranoid/safety conscious:

I'm doing a bunch of metal work in the cab of a 66 Ford - I thought about removing the gas tank for several days, balking 'cause it looked too hard....then yesterday I just did it. Removed it and put it outside in the garden shed. About 1/4 full. Took all of about 30 minutes....

When welding or grinding I always have my big extinguisher nearby - meaning I pull it off the box and put it near me on the ground, back a ways where I can imagine being able to grab it as I jumped back away from a fire/explosion.