Close call...

Thanks for the post – it’s one thing to ‘hear’ about spon. combustion. but it’s a different thing to see what it can do…. hopefully no one here will have to also experience it first hand.

-- ㊍ When in doubt - There is no doubt - Go the safer route.

WOW thanks for the vivid reminder.

-- Hope Never fails

My brother lost a huge double car garage full of possessions,because of a handy man that did not dispose of his waste properly.

This should stay high on the shop safety list.

-- mtnwild (Jack), It's not what you see, it's how you see it.

Thanks for the warning. We can never get complacent and this shows why.

-- Behind the Bark is a lot of Heartwood----Charles, Centennial, CO

We had the same thing happen not to long ago in the armory/weapon cleaning room at my PD. An officer after cleaning his weapon disposed of oily rags in the garbage can full of numerous used cotton patches. Ironically, this room has venting that leads into the cell blosk in which a lone perp was sleeping. He woke up yelling that smoke was getting into the cell and an officer was detailed to check it out. After words were exchanged accusing the guy that he was somehow in possession of matches, someone found out that the rags were smoldering. After a few laughs, signs were posted to remind of spon. combustion.

We were doing a project about 7 years ago at Appalachian State University. We had about 4 semitruck loads of wainscot panels and tons of trim that we had taken up there. A group of painters from another part of the state set-up shop in one of the rooms and were spraying all the trim and panels before we put them up. They did the same thing one night and left all their rags in a bucket with no water in it. The superintendent for the contractor also failed to see this and locked the building and went home. When he came in the next mornig the building was full of smoke and the room was on fire. We lost about 50 panels and lots of molding. They had to shut down the whole project for 60 days while they repaired the room and all the electrical in that room. They also had to clean and reseal all the ductwork before they let us back in to finish the job. And guess what? They let these guys come back to finising staining and painting on this job. DUH…...

-- Jerry--A man can never have enough tools or clamps

Thanks for posting this. Pretty scary. I always get concerned about rags and fumes in my shop especially in the winter when its all closed up.

-- Wayne - Plymouth MN

Every second of every minute of every hour of every day! Incidents happen in just a second so my question is always: “Where is your next second?”
Thanks for the reminder.

-- Kelly in Canton