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OT, fire safety issue!

Received from a friend who is in the property insurance business. It is well worth reading. This is one of those e-mails that if you didn't send it, rest assured someone on your list will suffer for not reading it. The original message was written by a lady whose brother and his wife learned a hard lesson this past week.

Their house burned down.. .nothing left but ashes. They have good insurance so the house will be replaced and most of the contents. That is the good news. However, they were sick when they found out the cause of the fire. The insurance investigator sifted through the ashes for several hours. He had >> the cause of the fire traced to the master bathroom. He asked her >> sister-in-law what she had plugged in the bathroom. She listed the normal >> things....curling iron, blow dryer. He kept saying to her, "No, this >> would be something that would disintegrate at high temperatures". Then >> her sister-in-law remembered she had a Glade Plug-In, in the bathroom. >> The investigator had one of those "Aha" moments. He said that was the >> cause of the fire. He said he has seen more house fires started with >> the plug-in type room fresheners than anything else. He said the >> plastic they are made from is THIN plastic. He also said that in every case there was nothing left to prove that it even existed. When the investigator looked in the wall plug, the two prongs left from the plug-in were still in there. Her sister-in-law had one of the plug-ins that had a small night light built in it. She said she had noticed that the light would dim and then finally go out. She would walk in to the bathroom a few hours later, and the light would be back on again. The investigator said that the unit was getting too hot, and would dim and go out rather than just blow the light bulb. Once it cooled down it would come back on. That is a warning sign . The investigator said he personally wouldn't have any type of plug in fragrance device anywhere in his house. He has seen too many places that have been burned down due to them. PLEASE PASS THIS ON TO ALL THE PEOPLE IN YOUR ADDRESS BOOK. NOT ONLY COULD IT SAVE SOMEONE'S HOUSE, BUT IT COULD SAVE SOMEONE'S LIFE.

~*IN GOD WE TRUST ~*BARBARA*~

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Reply to
Lyndell Thompson
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After sending a few unchecked urban legends to everyone on my email list, I checked this one out here:

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Interesting reading for anyone who wants to check it out-- so far Snopes has an Undetermined stand on this one. Phil

Reply to
robinphil2000

So sorry everyone, I was checking e-mail and saw this from a friend and thought it was real. I didn't check to see if it was a hoax. I guess no one before him checked it either. I won't let it happen again. Thanks to all for setting the record straight. Lyndell

Reply to
Lyndell Thompson

Hi Lyndell, "Better Safe Than Sorry" is not an "Urban Legend" and better red faced than red eyed. No need to apologize for caring. The dimming light was a likely tip off, but a hoax can burn your house or shop down.

Turn to Safety, Arch Fortiter

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Reply to
Arch

This is most probably a hoax. The site I referenced can't find any evidence that Glade air fresheners are a fire hazard. That doesn't prove it is a hoax, but, before I would panic, I would expect more evidence that an unsigned email (original) source.

That site was:

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I urge all to check these things out before relaying them to the world. In my experience, every one, without exception, of the email warnings I have received with serious, unproven concerns that urges me in BOLD CAPITAL LETTERS to send copies to everyone I know has been found to be a hoax.

The unfortunate part of this is that well-meaning, caring individuals are being taken advantage of by being tricked into spreading these unfounded warnings.

Now, lets get back to woodturning...

Bob

Reply to
rverne

I agree with Arch better safe than sorry. I have never had any problems with oily rags, but heard of a fella that left a bunched up oily rag on the bench and left to answer the phone and found it smoldering when he got back. I don't know if that is true, but now I use paper towels and put them and oily towels in the fireplace. So if something happens it is in a place were fire is supposed to be. My only tale about fire is being woken up by the fire dept. telling everyone to leave. Seems like someone reported glowing coming from the back yard. Turns out the pile were I toss my wood shavings started smoldering from internal combustion. I try and keep it damp. I will put the plug in's in along with my paranoia about burning candles in the house. Thanks for bringing it up.

Bruce

Lyndell Thomps> So sorry everyone, I was checking e-mail and saw this from a friend and

Reply to
Bruce Ferguson

wrote: ,(clip) every one, without exception, of the email warnings I have received with serious, unproven concerns that urges me in BOLD CAPITAL LETTERS to send copies to everyone I know has been found to be a hoax. (clip) ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Bob, how do I know that THIS is not a hoax? Lyndell, Snopes doesn't say it IS a hoax. They leave the question open. Bruce, the story about the oily rag on the bench is likely to be untrue. Or, if it is true, it is certainly not due to spontaneous combustion. Possibly a cigarette or some welding or grinding sparks could have contributed.

Spontaneous combustion occurs from slow oxidation, which can cause the temperature of a mass of fuel (oily rags, wood chips, etc) to rise. Increasing temperature increases the oxidation rate, causing the process to accelerate. However, a rag lying in open air probably loses enough heat so the ignition temperature is never reached. (And certainly not in the time for a single phone call.)

Reply to
Leo Lichtman

Leo, I have read and learned from many of your posts but I think you are on the edge with this one. A spread out rag is unlikely to start a fire but there are too many variables and too many documented cases of oily rags starting fire to take any chances at all with them. billh

Reply to
billh

"billh" wrote: (clip) too many variables and too many documented cases of oily rags starting fire to take any chances at all with them. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Bill, I certainly agree that it would not be wise to take chances by allowing oily rags to lie around unattended. However, what I wrote was a comment on a particular *alleged* incident. I am a mechanical engineer with some background in heat transmission and combustion, both of which relate to an understanding of spontaneous combustion. My training tells me that an oily rag on a bench for a brief period will not have time, nor the right conditions to heat up. If this were not the case, rags would start smouldering while the person is IN the shop, even if the phone didn't distract him/her. It would be such a common experience that most of us would have witnessed it, and oily rags would be considered dangerous.

Still, what I wrote was full of weasel words like "likely to be untrue," and "probably." I wouldn't want anyone to consider what I said as encouragement to pile up oily rags. What you said is much safer than what I said.

Reply to
Leo Lichtman

I like that - "weasel words" - seems to convey the thought with all the right connotations. My corporate days are well behind me; maybe that's how I've missed that before.

TomNie

Reply to
Tom Nie

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