RSKY
Veteran Member
- Joined
- Oct 5, 2003
- Messages
- 2,444
- Tractor
- Kioti CK20S
Well, I burned my storage building today….Didn’t mean to, but I did. Nobodies fault but mine.
I was taking care of the leaves in the front yard. Had the mulcher on my Yard-Man mower and was pulling a sweeper behind. Throw the blade in gear, make two or three passes around the front yard, throw blade out, and sweep up the mulched leaves. Drive around the house and dump them next to the barrel that I burn in. It is slower but safer to burn that way. And no black spot in the yard all winter.
It was 5:00 when I finished, just as the sun was going down. While dumping the last load I drove over a previously dumped pile and ground them up with the blade. Had to push them a short distance with the deck. I then drove the mower about 60 feet to an 8’ by 8’ wood sided storage building and pulled the mower inside. The sweeper was still attached and stuck outside preventing me from closing the doors. I got off the mower and put my hearing protectors in the zip lock bag I store them in, removed the dust mask and walked to the burn barrel, threw the mask in, and refilled the barrel with leaves. It had been burning since 10:00 this morning and about half the leaves were gone. I then walked back to the building and looked inside. Satisfied that all was OK I went into the house to shower.
Earlier in the day I had cleaned up the tools stored inside my ‘little building’. Two gas chain saws, electric pole saw, gas string trimmer, gas leaf blower, pole pruner, push mower, tiller, seven gas or diesel cans, assorted shovels, hand tools, oil, and mower.
Thank God I decided to put anything that used fuel or got dirty in this little building and not in the big shop. Wisest decision I have ever made.
Anyway back to the story. After I walked into the house I went straight to the bedroom and got clean clothes. The wife was getting ready to take a shower in the master bath so I said I would go to the utility room bath on the other end of the house. I heard a thud and remarked the girls must have come home early because I heard the garage door close. I then walked down the hall and thru the den when the phone rang.
“Randy, is your building supposed to be on fire?” asked Lori, the neighbor across the road.
“It isn’t on fire, that is smoke from the barrel behind it,” I replied.
“Nope, the building is on fire,” she replied.
I looked out the window and sure enough the entire building was engulfed in flames which were shooting 20-30 feet in the air.
“Oh sugar, (not really what I said) it is,” and out the door I went.
Got a hose connected, had drained all of them for winter storage earlier in the day, and started spraying the grass around the building. By now neighbors were coming at a run and hooking hoses to the other two back yard hydrants. I had to yell at them to get back because there could still be some gasoline in metal gas tanks on the tiller and push mower. I could see that the building and everything in it was already a total loss. I just wanted to keep the fire from spreading and I did not want anyone to get hurt.
I guess it was ten minutes at the most from shutting off the engine till I heard the noise. Once started it took less than twenty minutes until everything was gone. The flames were hot enough that I could not get within 60 feet of the building. We could barely spray the grass that was burning around it. Within 30 minutes the fire had burned itself down so we could move in and soak what little was left, just the lawn mower frame, a few other metal pieces, and the back wall.
What caused the fire? I have thought about it half the night trying to figure it out and here is what I think.
I had a problem last year when I tried to mow over a big pile of leaves. They built up in front of the deck and could not go under it. Eventually they made contact with the muffler, which is in the very front of the mower. I noticed the smoke, stopped and reversed the mower to get off the leaves. I had to get off the mower and stomp out the flames. The last pass I made today the same thing probably happened. Leaves got hung under the front of the mower, got in contact with the hot muffler, and started smoldering. After I shut it down and went in the house they burst into flames. Probably melted a plastic gas line and started a dribble of burning gas out on the plywood floor. The gas and flames reached the other gas containers and melted thru them. There was two full one gallon, one full four gallon, and four empty, but full of fumes, containers. One of the containers exploded and that was the thud I, and half the neighborhood, heard.
Lessons learned; it was a wise decision to move the ‘flammable’ tools to a separate building away from the main shop. I shudder to imagine the 24’ by 30’ two story shop going up in flames. Also the building that burned was about as far away from my house and the neighbors’ houses as I could place it on a one acre lot. The only collateral damage was to a large dogwood and an ash tree. They are right up against the building and both are badly scorched and will probably die.
Also, if I had lingered in the yard a few minutes longer I might have seen the fire start and try to get the mower out. I know that if it has gasoline in it and it is on fire the only safe thing to do is run. But when startled or scared people will do things that they would not do if they had the time to think it over. Since at least one container exploded I might have been burned or worse.
Oh well, nobody hurt, insurance paid up, and lesson learned. Goodnight all.
I was taking care of the leaves in the front yard. Had the mulcher on my Yard-Man mower and was pulling a sweeper behind. Throw the blade in gear, make two or three passes around the front yard, throw blade out, and sweep up the mulched leaves. Drive around the house and dump them next to the barrel that I burn in. It is slower but safer to burn that way. And no black spot in the yard all winter.
It was 5:00 when I finished, just as the sun was going down. While dumping the last load I drove over a previously dumped pile and ground them up with the blade. Had to push them a short distance with the deck. I then drove the mower about 60 feet to an 8’ by 8’ wood sided storage building and pulled the mower inside. The sweeper was still attached and stuck outside preventing me from closing the doors. I got off the mower and put my hearing protectors in the zip lock bag I store them in, removed the dust mask and walked to the burn barrel, threw the mask in, and refilled the barrel with leaves. It had been burning since 10:00 this morning and about half the leaves were gone. I then walked back to the building and looked inside. Satisfied that all was OK I went into the house to shower.
Earlier in the day I had cleaned up the tools stored inside my ‘little building’. Two gas chain saws, electric pole saw, gas string trimmer, gas leaf blower, pole pruner, push mower, tiller, seven gas or diesel cans, assorted shovels, hand tools, oil, and mower.
Thank God I decided to put anything that used fuel or got dirty in this little building and not in the big shop. Wisest decision I have ever made.
Anyway back to the story. After I walked into the house I went straight to the bedroom and got clean clothes. The wife was getting ready to take a shower in the master bath so I said I would go to the utility room bath on the other end of the house. I heard a thud and remarked the girls must have come home early because I heard the garage door close. I then walked down the hall and thru the den when the phone rang.
“Randy, is your building supposed to be on fire?” asked Lori, the neighbor across the road.
“It isn’t on fire, that is smoke from the barrel behind it,” I replied.
“Nope, the building is on fire,” she replied.
I looked out the window and sure enough the entire building was engulfed in flames which were shooting 20-30 feet in the air.
“Oh sugar, (not really what I said) it is,” and out the door I went.
Got a hose connected, had drained all of them for winter storage earlier in the day, and started spraying the grass around the building. By now neighbors were coming at a run and hooking hoses to the other two back yard hydrants. I had to yell at them to get back because there could still be some gasoline in metal gas tanks on the tiller and push mower. I could see that the building and everything in it was already a total loss. I just wanted to keep the fire from spreading and I did not want anyone to get hurt.
I guess it was ten minutes at the most from shutting off the engine till I heard the noise. Once started it took less than twenty minutes until everything was gone. The flames were hot enough that I could not get within 60 feet of the building. We could barely spray the grass that was burning around it. Within 30 minutes the fire had burned itself down so we could move in and soak what little was left, just the lawn mower frame, a few other metal pieces, and the back wall.
What caused the fire? I have thought about it half the night trying to figure it out and here is what I think.
I had a problem last year when I tried to mow over a big pile of leaves. They built up in front of the deck and could not go under it. Eventually they made contact with the muffler, which is in the very front of the mower. I noticed the smoke, stopped and reversed the mower to get off the leaves. I had to get off the mower and stomp out the flames. The last pass I made today the same thing probably happened. Leaves got hung under the front of the mower, got in contact with the hot muffler, and started smoldering. After I shut it down and went in the house they burst into flames. Probably melted a plastic gas line and started a dribble of burning gas out on the plywood floor. The gas and flames reached the other gas containers and melted thru them. There was two full one gallon, one full four gallon, and four empty, but full of fumes, containers. One of the containers exploded and that was the thud I, and half the neighborhood, heard.
Lessons learned; it was a wise decision to move the ‘flammable’ tools to a separate building away from the main shop. I shudder to imagine the 24’ by 30’ two story shop going up in flames. Also the building that burned was about as far away from my house and the neighbors’ houses as I could place it on a one acre lot. The only collateral damage was to a large dogwood and an ash tree. They are right up against the building and both are badly scorched and will probably die.
Also, if I had lingered in the yard a few minutes longer I might have seen the fire start and try to get the mower out. I know that if it has gasoline in it and it is on fire the only safe thing to do is run. But when startled or scared people will do things that they would not do if they had the time to think it over. Since at least one container exploded I might have been burned or worse.
Oh well, nobody hurt, insurance paid up, and lesson learned. Goodnight all.
