Fire

[sawkiller]

About to go to bed a couple hours ago matter of fact I had just slipped my jeans off. Pager goes off and I am called to do my duty as a firefighter.

Me and another fella are on the first truck out and when we get to the fire we find 2 1/2 cords ablaze. This is nice or was nice split and stacked firewood and fully ablaze between to big hickory trees. Here comes the reminder part if that big ol pile of firewood you have is less than 5' from a propane tank that is probably a bad idea. On our brush truck we arrived in I had 300 gallons of water and as I went around the fire I seen the tank about 4' away and it was very hot I started spraying the tank to cool it and the other guy on the truck rounded the corner trying to inform me I needed to spray the fire then he saw the tank and says oh s***!

Well it all worked out and I cooled the tank and got the blaze knocked down with 300 gallons. By then the rest of the department arrives and we put another 2000 on it while tearing the stack apart. First time I ever moved firewood with turnout gear on and hopefully the last. He had another 3 cord off of this stack at an angle and we saved that for him anyhow, and his propane is still ok.

 

[John R]

How close is his stove to the wood pile? What started the fire?

 

[TreePointer]

Good work, sawkiller!





I think I know some people in my area who would complain that the FD got their seasoned firewood all wet.

 

[dingeryote]

CRAP!!!

BLEVE is one of them things that turns Athiests into Monks.Those pop off valves get stuck or get overwhelmed all too often. Glad to hear it turned out right.

300 Gallons ain't ####. You must have felt like Gen.Custer untill the Tanker got there. Good call on your part.

Did the FM mention a prelim cause?
It's kind wierd a whole stack of firewood would get caught without some help, and the proximity to the tank makes it even more curious.
Just saying...

Stay safe!
Dingeryote

 

[Muffler Bearing]

Does the phrase..XXXX your pants apply here?

Good Job.!

 

[StubornDutchman]

I think I'd have a hard time getting one of my stacks of firewood to catch fire, even if I did it on purpose. Please let us know what could cause this. Raging grass fire, maybe????

 

[avason]

So wtf caused the fire. Spontanious combustion? When you find out can you let us know so we can avoid this?

 

[jhoff310]

sawkiller--please dont take this the wrong way, but it something doesnt add up. 300 gallons to cool off a propane tank and put out a fire consisting of 2.5 cords of wood. Either the tank was small or the stack wasnt cooking all that well. If it was a full size residential propane tank it would take a good 250 gallons of water to effectively cool it off to prevent a blevee leaving only 50 gallons to knock down 2.5 cords of wood.

forgive me please, as the product of a firefighter I have seen some weird stuff in my day and I am aware that you can do it if conditions are right. Sounds like things were in your favor lastnight.

God bless all of you smokeeaters, you guys do a great job.

Jeff

 

[sawkiller]

sawkiller--please dont take this the wrong way, but it something doesnt add up. 300 gallons to cool off a propane tank and put out a fire consisting of 2.5 cords of wood. Either the tank was small or the stack wasnt cooking all that well. If it was a full size residential propane tank it would take a good 250 gallons of water to effectively cool it off to prevent a blevee leaving only 50 gallons to knock down 2.5 cords of wood.

forgive me please, as the product of a firefighter I have seen some weird stuff in my day and I am aware that you can do it if conditions are right. Sounds like things were in your favor lastnight.

God bless all of you smokeeaters, you guys do a great job.

Jeff

Well you are right 300 gallons ain't much and I cooled the tank just enough that it would stay wet maybe 50 gallons or so the tank was no where near blevy condition and the popoff had not relieved but I wanted to be sure it didn't either. Then I turned my attention to the wood and begin to fight it. No 300 gallons won't put it out but it will knock it down and stop it from spreading further. Believe me the wood was blazing almost every piece we moved had a 1/2" or more of char all the way around it. The pieces on the bottom of the stack were just coals not even holding their shape anymore.

The cause is unknown and we don't call the fire investigators unless it is major property damage, lives lost or arson. While it is very possible this was arson there was nothing to lead us to believe it. The homeowners had been gone all day and claimed there was no hot ashes or anything near the fire. One of our firefighters actually lives right next door he is who called and he was trying to fight it with a garden hose when we got there. Ther was the remains of a trash can next to the fire I suspect that as a possible cause?

As far as how close the stove was to wood I am also unsure of that as i assume the stove or whatever he heated with was inside and the fire was outside.

As a rural department with usually a water supply limited by the tankers in route we have learned you can knock down a fire and stop the agressive spread with very little water if used and applied properly. Most people including firefighters want to spray where they see flames and often you are just wasting water and turning it to steam. If you can get into the seat of the fire where it is really hot and get your water there you will almost immediately inhibit the growth stage of the fire. This works just as well in a compartment fire. For instance last night I never once sprayed the top of the wood when knocking it down I immediately started spraying at the bottom where it was hottest and working my way up.

 

[colin.p]

Friends of ours lost their supply of wood, when the lady of the house had left linseed oily rags out in the wood shed, after staining the porch floor. Burnt about 10 face cords of wood. It took them awhile to figure out what caused it. At first they thought arson, until she remembered the rags. I don't know if she ever told her husband, nah she must have.

 

[Marc]

As a rural department with usually a water supply limited by the tankers in route we have learned you can knock down a fire and stop the agressive spread with very little water if used and applied properly. Most people including firefighters want to spray where they see flames and often you are just wasting water and turning it to steam. If you can get into the seat of the fire where it is really hot and get your water there you will almost immediately inhibit the growth stage of the fire. This works just as well in a compartment fire. For instance last night I never once sprayed the top of the wood when knocking it down I immediately started spraying at the bottom where it was hottest and working my way up.

Can depend a lot on the situation. Compartment fires are a much different animal.

If you haven't read this, I'd highly recommend.

http://www.amazon.com/Safe-Effective-Use-Fog-Nozzles/dp/0878148957

Get it for your whole department. I spent 5 years on a rural dept. with only static water supplies. I know the game of water conservation well, too.