Faulty air compressor causes explosion and fire

[Jaja]

Saw this in the news:

https://www.macombdaily.com/news/co...cle_b84d40a2-959e-11eb-bc0d-bfb988ebde0a.html

Jennifer Aviolo was relaxing her husband in the back yard of their Macomb Township home Sunday afternoon when they heard a "boom" sound, followed by a two more loud noises.

"It sounded like a gunshot," said Aviolo, with her husband, Chris. "Then we heard a couple more loud sounds. Something didn't sound right."

A house across the street from the couple on the 55500 block of Frost Drive, in the Fallbrooke Farms subdivision in the area of 25 Mile Road and Boughton, had exploded and caught fire about 4 p.m.
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Fire officials said no injuries were reported as the family fled the burning structure. Macomb Township firefighters were able to prevent flames from penetrating the house, but the explosion caused an estimated $100,000 in damage to the garage along with destroying a vehicle that was housed inside.

Investigators said the explosion was caused by a faulty air compressor, but they were still looking into what caused it to blow up.

"That's our next focus, why the air compressor blew up," said Fire Chief Robert Phillips. "We have ruled out foul play."
house explodes family

Family members sit on a neighbor's lawn with their pets as they cope with the shock of the explosion.

Fire crews were met by heavy flames as they arrived, according to the fire chief. They were able to get the vehicle out of the garage and contained the fire to that area.

Phillips said the family was inside the house when they heard a noise coming from the garage. He said a family member opened the door from the kitchen to the adjoining garage and saw fire. They grabbed a fire extinguisher and went back to the garage, where they were met with stronger flames.

That's when the family grabbed their two pet dogs, evacuated the house and waited outside for the fire department. Although firefighters were able to prevent flames from entering the house, the home interior had smoke damage, fire officials said.

"They did everything right and what we try to get people to do in the event of a fire," Phillips said. "They closed the door immediately to stop the fire from getting in the home and exited the structure."

The family declined to comment.

The home had working some detectors, which continued to sound after the fire had been extinguished.

Township assessing records show the 2,070-square-foot home was assessed at $168,300.

Ray Township firefighters manned the Macomb Township stations while the work was going on.

I'm interested to read the cause of how this amount of damage occurred.

JaJa

 

[Jlbc212]

About the only thing I can think of that could possibly start a fire with an air compressor is the electrical components. Most air compressors I'm familiar with have a heavy gauge wire cord. Any electrical failure should have tripped a circuit breaker. It's possible the owner had the compressor plugged into too light of a gauge or excessively long extension cord, in which case it wouldn't be the compressor as the cause but rather the extension cord. The house looks fairly new and should have adequate electric circuit wiring and protection. I'd be more suspicious of the car or something else that may have been lurking in the garage.

 

[jsaw]

Could a belt on the compressor loosened up, start slipping, overheated and caught fire?

 

[Vtor]

Fire spreads FAST, cost of clean up (mitigation) and restore is INSANE.

All that dirty water carrying soot all over house.. yeah.

 

[nadogail]

Was PVC pipe involved?

 

[a_whale]

<deleted>

 

[lml999]

There's another story here:

"Jennifer Aviolo was relaxing her husband in the back yard"

Hmmm...

....and the posted article (in an update) downgrades him from husband to fiancé !

 

[firebirdparts]

I leave mine on all the time, and I do worry about this. I guess I should hook a relay to the lights like some of you other guys. That would work perfectly for me.

 

[driftpin]

Was PVC pipe involved?

Hah, that's a good-one!

I don't leave mine energized when it's idle, no power to it, a Saylor-Beall 705 80 gallon. I suspect an electrical fire, looks like that had a large flammable load around it once it ignited, which spread to more combustibles, so the idea of cardboard boxes close-by may have been a source of fire spread. That or some flammable liquids, or rattle cans with combustible liquids in them. That could have-been the 'pop' reported, cans igniting/exploding.

The fire officer's white helmet belongs on his head, not resting on that burned-out SUV. Doesn't that header for the garage opening already appear to be sagging?

 

[240sxguy]

We had a compressor in a shop years ago that was left on 24/7. The airline ruptured and the compressor ran for about 24 hours straight. It was extremely hot and smelled terrible. I could easily see how that near something flammable would have caused a fire.

 

[jmarkwolf]

The father of a buddy of mine accidentally burned down the family home some years back when he was power washing the deck at the far end of the house, somehow using the air compressor (don't know details). They determined that the compressor got hot, ignited something in the garage, and by the time he noticed the fire it was too late to save the house.

Nobody was hurt.

 

[BillD]

The airline ruptured and the compressor ran for about 24 hours straight. It was extremely hot and smelled terrible.

Not a very good compressor. Most quality stuff is rated 100% duty and 5000+ hours life between pump rebuilds.

I can see a non-oiled compressor running itself until glowing red through. If aluminum could glow red.

 

[subroc]

Where is the outrage?

Ban all air compressors.

 

[BillK]

Its all speculation until the cause is found but . . . . I simply have never felt comfortable leaving an air compressor powered up when I am not using it. Any type of equipment as far as that goes. I turn the power off to the one at my business every day when I walk out the door.

 

[gungatim]

LGR

 

[gungatim]

Where is the outrage?

Ban all air compressors.

LGR

 

[niget2002]

Its all speculation until the cause is found but . . . . I simply have never felt comfortable leaving an air compressor powered up when I am not using it. Any type of equipment as far as that goes. I turn the power off to the one at my business every day when I walk out the door.

I turn mine off mostly out of habit... and the fact I don't want to wake up to the sound of it running in the middle of the night.

 

[LJZ]

Many years ago a friend had left his business only to come in the next morning to open the door and smell burnt oil, in seconds realizing the compressor was running ran over to area just in time to see smoke coming off it and nearby wall starting to ignite. he ran to the box shut off the main to get back to area to extinguish. It was that close to loosing everything. He said the dang heads around exhaust was glowing. After a bit (airing out stinky Smokey shop)did some investigation. The pressure switch manifold was leaking and to add to it the iron pipe leading to the air filters and main shut off had sprung a leak somewhere thereabouts , cant recall totally what he said. Everything was maintained and reasonably cared for (70's shop environment) Ever since that day I dont care if its my portable on a site or one of my mains in the shop. I cut the power and shut the main air valve off that I put after each pressure switch. Whenever no ones around. Just my FWIW.

 

[Oilguy]

I have a 2400 ft shop near the house with a lot of stuff plugged in. I turn off the main breaker to kill everything each time I am done for the day.

 

[K'ledgeBldr]

Its all speculation until the cause is found...

There's not that much speculation. Anybody who has owned and operated a compressor will know what can "fuel" an explosion/fire. And the top of the list is a continuously running compressor- for whatever reason.

In the case of the linked article, it's the fire department not saying specifically to the media, and the media dramatizing the event- because of the lack of information!

 

[Hobby_Man22]

Interesting. I purposefully run mine for about 20 minutes straight to burn off condensation in the oil about every couple months.

 

[matt_i]

I would believe an electrically-related fire long before the 24x7 runner.

because..."the family was home".

The compressor running a cycle in my connected shop is enough to wake me out of bed...in a garage I think there would be no doubt about what was going on.

Another possibility just occurred, what if something like a piece of cardboard slipped down in between the wire belt cage and started rubbing, thus causing a friction-related ignition and of course the fuel is right there.

The fire investigators are pretty good about piecing it back together.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Fires need air. A compressor tank full of air is a great source to help feed the flames. Once that car started burning in the garage, it's a whole new ball game.

 

[firebirdparts]

Well for what it’s worth mine busted a rubber lead hose I had for vibration and ran all night, but it wasn’t really hot enough to ignite anything. It was hot, though.

 

[a_whale]

<deleted>

 

[mcbane]

My 2006 IR 5 hp compressor had a motor fire. I was there at the time and it tripped the 60A breaker after it filled the garage with smoke. According to the IR service tech, they had started building the compressors with ChiCom motors and the issue was faulty shellac on motor windings. He claimed to have seen 3 ft flames coming out of another customer’s compressor motor.

I only saw smoke, no flames, but ever since I tend to power down the compressor when I won’t be home.


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