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Re: [RC] Trailer Fire at Hahira - Truman PrevattFlora Hillman wrote:Fire is scary - and we probably don't respect it like we should. A few things come to mind reading these post. First is do not store canisters of anything compressed where they can burn. This goes from cans of aerosol hair spray, aerosol bug spray to small propane containers. While they wouldn't become bombs (there is not oxygen in the container) - as the temperature goes up so does the pressure and they can rupture from the build up in pressure. When they rupture the contents can form a fire ball and or toxic gas as the contents come in contact with oxygen and heat. This could have been why the fire spread so fast. Even if the didn't rupture, the pressure release on the propane canisters would have released the gas to prevent a rupture and this released gas would have spread the fire as it spewed out and caught fire as it came in contact with oxygen and an open flame hence raising the pressure even more and causing more gas to be released - resembling something akin to a "flame thrower." Probably the worst thing to do would be to "open the door" - this would introduced a rush of oxygen to a potentially oxygen depleted fire and could have resulted in what is called a "backdraft" and could have resulted in an explosion and a very rapid spread of the fire http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backdraft. It would have probably been best to leave the door closed and let the firefighters deal with it. At any rate the trailer was probably a lost cause but there is risk to a person near the point where oxygen was introduced. Those piddly fire extinguishers would be pretty much worthless in such a fire. They are fine for a pan fire. Even a large fire extinguisher would have been worthless for a fire that was being fed by "hissing" canisters of propane. A good rule I think is to not have any thing burning inside a trailer that was not a properly installed and externally vented such as a gas furnace when not monitored. That would include don't leave a stove burner on unless cooking on it. An investment in smoke alarm and carbon monoxide detector is small but could save a life. Such a fire is a low probability event - but once they start burning they pack a huge punch. My heart goes out to Susan for her loss. Insured or not it's still a traumatic experience. Truman =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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