Let's talk fire safety

[Chuckster in NJ]

A few fires that I have seen beside fire started by "sparks and combustibles"
Oily rags ignited.
Rodents nest inside riding tractor...... engine ignited.
4x4 truck caught on fire with weeds wrapped around drive shaft.
Riding mower had leaves "caught up" on exhaust.
Propane grill too close to house siding.
Push type leaf blower left on while it sat next to garage for less than 15 minutes while the owner went to the bathroom.

TIP! ALWAYS let your gasoline tractors, mowers etc. “cool down" outside before putting them away JIC there is any dry grass or leaves stuck near hot areas.

 

[inphx]

I had my close call welding a nut on a broken exhaust manifold bolt. I had some cardboard under the car for occasional oil drips and it caught fire from the spark droppings. But got it out, fortunately.

 

[matt_i]

After my neighbor's shop* burned down a couple years ago, I got some 10lb Badger commercial extinguishers. Always go grab one when I go to sweat-solder some plumbing no matter where.

I also rely on the drywall, my addition to the existing shop was covered in Type C drywall. A step past Type X but not really in price.

* His shop was in a state of being expanded with a lot of framing open, and he just got the roof done. He parked a lawn tractor inside, right next to some old housewrap exposed on a now interior wall (used to be the exterior). The radiant heat from the muffler is what I personally think set it off, he had gone in to eat dinner and heard the popping sounds from inside.

As in a page earlier, he had a lot of cylinder heads melted down to puddles of aluminum, the new concrete all had giant spalls all over it. The open framing was just like a chimney, there was no saving any of it by the time the FD arrived.

 

[racecougar]

Losing my shop and the cars and equipment within would be absolutely disastrous, so I've made the following efforts to prevent the possibility of igniting a fire.

I have my shop set up such that hot work is relegated to 1/3 of the space, with a sliding curtain drawn to separate that section from the remainder of the shop when hot work is taking place. The shop walls and ceiling are metal, cabinets are metal, etc.

Flammables and aerosols are stored in flammable cabinets ~25 ft away from the hot work area.

10lb ABC fire extinguishers are located at every door. A large CO2 fire extinguisher is located at the man door in the hot work area as well. In addition to the typical fiberglass welding blanket (stored at the welding cart), I have an emergency fire blanket stored in the middle of the shop.

Trash is disposed of in a flammable waste container, which is emptied every day.

I keep the shop clean of flammable debris (no sawdust, rags laying around, etc.).

Cordless tool batteries are NOT left in the charger when I'm not in the shop.

 

[e015475]

All great ideas.

There's something else to consider though.

My son, when he was young, had an intense interest in anything going on in my shop. The nut doesn't fall too far from the tree, I suppose.

I had both an oxy-acetylyne and a TIG welder in the shop, and at various times I could see some evidence of him messing around with it. He was a 'latch-key' kid for a few hours in the afternoon. I didn't want to discourage him from using hand tools and other stuff in the shop unsupervised, but the oxy-acetylyne setup made me nervous as hell.

I finally just took the gas welding cart out of the shop and moved it to a friend's house for a few years and used it there when I needed it.

A few lessons on the TIG relieved my concerns with that and I could turn off the breaker and lock the panel until I was convinced he was safe.

 

[e015475]

All great ideas.

There's something else to consider though.

My son, when he was young, had an intense interest in anything going on in my shop. The nut doesn't fall too far from the tree, I suppose.

I had both an oxy-acetylyne and a TIG welder in the shop, and at various times I could see some evidence of him messing around with it. He was a 'latch-key' kid for a few hours in the afternoon. I didn't want to discourage him from using hand tools and other stuff in the shop unsupervised, but the oxy-acetylyne setup made me nervous as hell.

I finally just took the gas welding cart out of the shop and moved it to a friend's house for a few years and used it there when I needed it.

A few lessons on the TIG relieved my concerns with that and I could turn off the breaker and lock the panel until I was convinced he was safe.

Don't skimp on teaching shop safety to your kids (or anybody that has access to your shop for that matter)

 

[frankd]

I have a 2 car attached garage and the kids bedrooms are above the garage so I always worry about fire. I installed 2 hardwired heat alarms in the garage. Aside from that I also keep most flammables in a separate storage shed outside. And I keep fire extinguishers in the garage.

These are the heat alarms I have:

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Kidde-F...Degree-with-Battery-Backup-21029895/100594387