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  #11  
Old 06-03-2014, 03:51 PM
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Marty Comstock Marty Comstock is offline
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Our shop is wood, and uninsured. Cheaper to rebuild if if anything happened.

Paint and chemicals one one side of the shop, welding tanks on the other.

Dad and I follow one simple rule, USE YOUR HEAD.

You can live in fear, or you can get stuff done. You cant prevent acts of god, but you can save yourself from your worst enemy, yourself.

WHY did that propane tank explode, and what are the odds of it happening again?
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  #12  
Old 06-03-2014, 04:41 PM
Charlie Myres Charlie Myres is offline
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I live in a wooden building and have similar concerns and have been thinking about fire mitigation for years.

I think the best solution is to install a fire sprinkler system throughout the house, as the cheapest and most effective insurance. Unlike the movies; only the sprinklers above a fire go off and they will have the fire under control before the fire brigade have left the station,

Cheers C
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  #13  
Old 06-03-2014, 07:42 PM
John Buchtenkirch John Buchtenkirch is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Marty Comstock View Post
Our shop is wood, and uninsured. Cheaper to rebuild if if anything happened.

Paint and chemicals one one side of the shop, welding tanks on the other.

Dad and I follow one simple rule, USE YOUR HEAD.

You can live in fear, or you can get stuff done. You cant prevent acts of god, but you can save yourself from your worst enemy, yourself.

WHY did that propane tank explode, and what are the odds of it happening again?
Marty, somehow you’ve read my post #7 and still don’t quite seem to understand what happened, I guess I wasn’t that clear. The propane bottle didn’t blow up and start the fire.

The fire started somewhere in the building and was reported, the fire men and trucks had reached the building and were setting up, the fire finally reached one of the forklifts in the warehouse and cooked off the propane bottle, the explosion caused all the firemen to back off to a safer distance and just watch the building burn out.

Could you not imagine the same thing happening at our shops if there was a fire and the oxygen or acetylene bottles cooked off ? THAT IS WHAT I’M AFRAID OF and why I linked the bottle truck explosions in my very first post. There are several dealer body shops here on Long Island that have the oxygen & acetylene piped thru the shop and each body man has his own regulators and torches but no bottles. That is what I’m kinda interested in…….. yes, maybe overkill but I’d probably sleep better at night.

I do agree with you 100% that the best first line of defense is being careful and I will add having a lot of full fire extinguishers around. I did heavy collision work for quite a few years and straightened a bunch of frames with pulling and a monster rosebud torch, caused a few minor fires and I always managed to knock them out. I guess I just worry about an electrical fire starting when I might not be around or I’m asleep. You get older and you tend to worry more , I’d just never recover from a complete building loss (plus the cars & equipment) at my age. ~ John Buchtenkirch
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  #14  
Old 06-03-2014, 08:49 PM
Dave Deyton Dave Deyton is offline
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Something to think about. I used to lease my tanks, but now just bought some. I keep the tanks on the cart or chained to the wall when not in use. I use the flash back arrestors (getting 2 more for the small torch) and check back many times after using the torch. Checked back one time after welding and saw a small wisp of smoke coming from a rag behind a bicycle frame. If I hadn't checked, I would'n have seen it. Don't know if it would have flared up, bur it sure scared me. Stomped out the rag and removed it.
Helps to do those checks to cut down on the stress. Probably have 12 small refillable fire extinguishers around the shop. One big one on the floor.

Always keep an eye out after working and always looking for suggestions for safer use of equipment.

Dave
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  #15  
Old 06-03-2014, 10:04 PM
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Marty Comstock Marty Comstock is offline
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ok, ok, i get it now.

still, I think you worry too much.

Bought tanks? I just sold some I owned because owned tanks are a liability at seems anymore in my area, the owner has the responsibility of having them filled, cant swap them out like leased or rented tanks, and if they need to be tested, its out of your pocket.

At least thats what I have run into with with my welding suppliers.
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  #16  
Old 06-04-2014, 04:05 AM
Dave Deyton Dave Deyton is offline
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I can still swap out my tanks for filled ones here. I was paying a monthly fee and with work not using them much except in the summer so I bought some. My welding supply store has been good to deal with so far.

Dave
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  #17  
Old 06-04-2014, 07:04 AM
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I agree with Marty, you all are worrying too much.

How many of those tank explosions have happened in the last 30 years? Building an exploding building is a bit off the chart.

You are probably in greater danger of getting hit by a vehicle walking across the street or the stepladder falling off the door when you open it.

Reasonable safety precautions to avoid a fire in the first place should be ongoing. I imagine you have never even had a close call as you shop and grounds look neat. Need something to worry about, we are all getting older. Or worry about NOT winning the Lottery, odds are probably about the same.

Who was it that sang "Don't Worry, Be Happy"?
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  #18  
Old 06-07-2014, 10:00 PM
Oldnek Oldnek is offline
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I agree with with Marty and Richard,

Safety is a common sense thing, a lot of people have no common sense and that gets them and others into trouble.
Over the years I have seen many.
Some of the ridiculous that I have seen are:
Fueling up while smoking (this was made banned in Australia a lot of years ago)
Idiots trying to put air into tyres whilst the air line is jammed between tyre and pavement and still they want to stretch the air line till the Gauge comes adrift allowing compressed air to gush out of the hose
Came across a car parked on the roadway, just on Dusk on a country road, with no lights or Hazard indicators on. He was changing a flat tyre, I parked 20 meters behind with Hazards on and assisted him and told him next time that happens, that he pulls off the roadway in a safe area. He had no idea
A Teenager breaking a surf board in half cause he was to lazy to undo it from the roof rack, trying to fit a suit case into the boot, which was bigger than the gap between board and Boot lid the list goes on.
Here in Australia we have lots of OH and S standards(Occupation Health and Safety) and we are seeing more which a lot of it is over the top is making the most simplest of task more time consuming.
Looking at the Video, it wasn't the fact the Bottles were not secure, but IMHO, the driver is careless, he appears to be speeding and is not aware of what was happening around him. So with that he possibly would be bothered securing his bottles anyway.
Just hope no one else was injured.

John! by the look of your pristine yard and shed, I would have nothing to worry about, you obviously have common sense. Something that unfortunately is lacking, with teenagers and the so called new generation today.
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  #19  
Old 06-08-2014, 02:17 AM
Peter Tommasini Peter Tommasini is offline
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I have seen bottles going off just like that, back in the 70's when there was no many regulations about oxy bottles, not a nice site!
bloody scary
Peter
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  #20  
Old 06-08-2014, 05:26 AM
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It looks like the driver was speeding. He went by pretty fast!
You would think they would. Have to stay 5-10 car length behind the car in front of them
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