Electrical fire

[SGropp]

This morning I was cutting out some plywood templates for the glass for a set of fireplace doors. The magnetic switch on the bandsaw in my woodshop was acting funny, so when I was done,I disconnected the power, pulled the cover to clean out the sawdust that manages to get in and sometimes causes problems. I blew out the dust and for good measure sprayed the guts of the switch with electrical contact cleaner. I blew it out again , wiped things dry and waited a couple of minutes before putting the cover back on. I plugged the saw back in, pushed the on button and the whole switch box burst into flame !

I tried to smoother the fire with a rag ,but this did not work at all. I could see that things were getting much worse very fast. The bandsaw is against the wood framed wall of the shop with wood stacked around it and sawdust all around, even though I try to maintain a clean shop.

The situation wasn't helped by the fact that all the rain barrels, slack tub and buckets of water that I keep full for just such an emergency were frozen solid ,The frost free hydrant had a frozen hose still attached, that I had forgotten to drain. The local fire department would have no chance at all of getting up my road in the snow.

Luckily I did have a proper fire extinguisher and even though it was at least 10 years old,it did work and put the fire right out, although I had to pull the hot metal cover off the electrical box to get at the fire inside.

The dry chemical in the ABC rated extinguisher almost gave me an immediate respiratory seizure which would not helped the situation much.

The lesson: I got off cheap, the actual cost; a few hundred bucks for a new magnetic switch and fire extinguisher and some lost time. The potential loss: The whole building ,$100,000 worth of tools and the entire livelihood for me and my family.

It's easy to think about fire when working with torches, welders, forges and hot metal, but there are are plenty of other ways for a fire to start in a shop environment and when it does, things start getting out of control rapidly.

Look around every day and think about what could start a fire and how you would deal with it.

Happy Holidays !!



 Mod note: Water is not to be used for electrical fires, this man is lucky it was frozen, that may have saved his life.

[markb]

As I was reading, I thought oh XXXXXX he's going to lose it all, but you had a fire extinguisher!
So easy to overlook, in one moment all is changed.

Thanks for the reminder.

[Frosty]

Good save!

Jerking the plug out of the wall might've made it easier to put out but I'm not going to second guess a successful defense. Well done.

Glad you're still with us.

Frosty

[ptree]

Let this be a lesson to us all! Go today, now, and check those extinguishers, if they are commercial extinguishers, when were they last checked? Every year, a dry powder extinguisher should be inverted to allow the powder to not pack, all pressurized extinguishers can leak down. Tap that gage, did it stay in the green?
For plastic valve, home style, is the gage in the green? Tap it, still in the green?

I took a plastic valve home 5#er that the gage was just a little below the green and tried it outside the shop just to see what happened. Got one good spurt and then a trickle.

Look in your shop, is the extinguisher handy, clear access? I put mine at each door out. That gives me a move to the exit, where I can consider if the fire is fightable. Also puts the extinguishers in plain sight to see if the gage has dropped.

To use an extinguisher, remember PASS
Pull the pin
Aim the hose at the base of the flames
Squeeze the trigger.
Sweep from 4-6'

NOW, Ptree's rule of eyebrows, as I teach it in industrial safety classes.
The 4-6' is not set in stone. If you are hitting the fire with the extinguisher, but your eyebrows are burning off you are too close.
If you are not hitting the fire you are too far away.
If you are not hitting the fire, and your eyebrows are burning off the fire is too big to fight with an extinguisher, get the fire dept.

[Frosty]

I think your eyebrow rule should be taught as part of basic fire safety training.

Something I learned as a teen when our boat caught fire is invert and tap a dry chem extinguisher before using it, especially if it's in a vehicle. Vibration will cause the powder to pack and render the extinguisher useless except to break out a window so you can escape.

We thought everybody's extinguishers were dead, other boats were pulling up and throwing them to us but every single one was a dud. Had we only known we could've put the fire out immediately and not had an expensive repair. Fortunately a quick thinking gal driving a hot rod ski boat tilted the jet unit up out of the water and nearly sank us with the rooster tail. Fire out.

I wasn't really scared, there were at least a dozen boats right there to rescue us but I hated not being able to control that fire. It effected Dad the same way, the one time I looked up at him his face was purple red in rage and we were both shouting at it.

The cause was a cracked settling bowl leaking fuel that lit off when we started the engine. We were drift fishing on a lake so it was start and go all day til then of course. Then it was get towed back to the boat ramp and 10-15 guys hand loading it on the trailer. The fish and game guy nearly got punched when he started to issue a citation for swimming in a reservoir. There were about 30 people standing around of the same opinion, any father who didn't throw their 9 yr old girl out of a burning boat should be lynched and any fin and feather who wanted to fine him was going to be.

Anyway, tap those extinguishers before you pull the trigger. Can't hurt, might help.

Frosty