Almost started my garage on fire last night...

"Pickup_man" (zekeh)
03/25/2016 at 11:33 • Filed to: None

So last night I was working on my newest purchase, a ‘79 Porsche 924, and was trying to fix the roll up tarp that covers the trunk because it had stopped retracting. In the process of taking it apart I got a little hasty and broke the the square end shaft that allows the spring to build tension. No big deal I thought, I’ll just weld a bit of rod onto the end of the broken rod, and file it back down to shape. So I get the pieces I need situated in the vise and get my crappy little 110v welder set up. The welder works decently for what it is, but my biggest issue with it is that it’s always live, and pulling the trigger only works the wire feed, so whenever the wire makes contact with the part, it starts to weld. On top of that I don’t have an auto darkening helmet, so I have to get the gun close to where I want it, pull my helmet down and guess where my wire goes until it makes contact and I can move it precisely where it needs to be. It’s a pain, but I don’t weld often, so I manage. Anyway... I get everything set and start welding when a hot piece of slag hops off and makes its way into one of the cracks on my workbench and starts a small fire. Not a huge deal, this has happened before, but my first reaction is to get the hot piece of slag off my wood workbench and onto the concrete floor where it can cool and not start a fire. So, in a hurry, I grab a pliers I had handy, and push the hot slag off the bench...right into my garbage can, which is full of plastics and oil, and dirty rags. (Picard facepalm.jpg) A small little fire starts and that’s when the panic sets in. I throw open my door and grab the trash can and bring it to the back yard to at least get it out of the garage if it decides to burst into flames. Naturally the garden hose was put away because of the winter time, but luckily we got 4-5" of snow the day before, so I start scooping up snow with my arms and fill the can. Crisis averted. Needless to say I’ve moved the garbage can to a safer (although slightly more inconvenient) location. And yes, there is a fire extinguisher in my garage as well.

DISCUSSION (9)

My X-type is too a real Jaguar > Pickup_man
03/25/2016 at 11:39

Nice 3 Wheeler of Death! (Man that 60 Minutes story really killed those things fast)

Needmoargarage > Pickup_man
03/25/2016 at 11:44

This story convinced me to rearrange my garage, buy metal ‘flammables’ cabinets, and buy the largest portable fire extinguisher I could find. Scary stuff! Glad it didn’t get out of control.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Pickup_man
03/25/2016 at 11:55

CO2 fire extinguisher will quench flames without making a giant mess. If I were welding indoors, I’d have a couple of them along with a halon or two, though halon brings its own dangers. Maybe an indoor hose bib as well.

Glad it worked out okay for you!

shop-teacher > Pickup_man
03/25/2016 at 12:13

Glad everything turned out ok!

Pickup_man > shop-teacher
03/25/2016 at 12:16

Same here!

crowmolly > Pickup_man
03/25/2016 at 12:17

I’m glad you are OK!

Pickup_man > crowmolly
03/25/2016 at 12:19

Thanks! Me too.

jariten1781 > Pickup_man
03/25/2016 at 12:31

Heh, I knocked a kerosene lantern into my wife's purse one time. Whole thing lit off and panic mode made me think I was going to lose the kitchen....but I was able to carry it to the backyard on a mop handle and quench it in the water feature. That was fun to explain. Somehow her next purse purchase was significantly more expensive than she'd normally spend and I didn't even passive-aggressively whine about it.

Pickup_man > jariten1781
03/25/2016 at 12:34

Yeah I’m sure that was an interesting story!