Shop caught fire today

L

Ltortorich

Formerly known as Rocketmann
Platinum Member
Joined
Jul 12, 2022
Messages
35
I had a fire in the shop today. I was lucky that I caught it when I did or I could have lost the entire thing.
I was in the process of tempering a few AEB-L blades and had shut off my converted pottery kiln that I use as a heat treating oven and went inside to eat lunch.
I came out to check on the tempering and saw smoke coming out of my shop.
I opended the door and smoke was pouring out of the wall next to my oven.
I unplugged it ripped out some sheet rock and was able to put the fire out.
Luckily I keep a fire extinguisher on the inside of the door.
After some investigation it seems that the heat from my oven had melted the insulation off of some wires in the wall. The wires must have shorted out and started the fire.
lesson learned. ALWAYS keep plenty of space between ovens and anything that can burn.
The oven is well insulated but was pushed too close to the wall.
After the fire was extinguished I spent the rest of the day doing repairs and rearranging things to allow enough space around the oven so this doesn't happen again.
I got really lucky today. If I was 15 minuts later coming outside I would have lost the entire shop..
Be careful out there...
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I actually have an inch of kaowool wrapped around the kiln under the insulation..
But I am seriously looking at getting a new oven.. I just had this one pushed too tight against the wall..
 
Damn man. Glad you only had minimal damage and caught it in time. Its making me rethink my kiln placement. I had an incident last year where I purchased some “Trim Black” to restore the plastic trim on my truck. The same store sold foam pad applicators. When I was done, I placed the foam applicator on a wooden table in the shop along with a rag. The stuff caught fire and burned the table and I similarly as you, caught it just in the nick of time.
 
I'm not sure that smoke detectors woukd have helped in this situation..
The shop is 30' from the house.
Yeah I thought about the insurance company...I certainly would not have been covered..
 
There are WiFi connected ones now that can notify you remotely. Of course, you’d need WiFi in your shop.
 
Wow!!! You were lucky!

Were the wires that burned up the ones to the plug the kiln was plugged into? In the photos, it looks like the fires started from heat inside the wall, not from the kiln????

There are lots of remote detectors that will link with your RING system or NEST system. Others are independent and use direct wi-fi.

I think this is a safety post, so the no-link rule will be suspended. If you have a setup you recommend, post where it can be found.
For less than $50 you can have an X-Sense remote setup that works for over 1000'. You can add lots of detectors anywhere you want. Besides the loud alarm in your house, it sends a message to your phone.
This is the base unit you want:
This is one of the sensor devices you want. There are ones with CO detectors as well, and multi=packs available:
 
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Thank you Stacy.
No the wires were not related to the kiln at all.
They were feeding an exterior 110v outlet.
I believe that the heat from the kiln melted the insulation on the wires and the fire started inside the wall..
Thanks for the replies.
As I said before.. I was very lucky
 
Ltortorich said:
I believe that the heat from the kiln melted the insulation on the wires and the fire started inside the wall..
Click to expand...
Are you sure the wires themselves didn't overheat from being undersized for the amp draw?
I would think that if there was enough heat to melt the wires through insulation and drywall, there would be heat damage to the insulation and wall first?
 
I installed one of these automatic fire suppression systems in my shop ceiling, and I'm considering adding two more. They are triggered by heat, and they come in different sensitivities. I'm not sure how affective these would actually be, but I feel like it's better than nothing.

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The photos seem to show the heat came from within the wall, not outside it. Was anything plugged into the outside receptacle?
 
WOW you were very lucky!! How long and how many times have you used your kiln that close to the wall? Wood when fresh has a set flash point.
But continued exposure to heat lowers that flash point significantly. More space or more space with a heat shield spaced off the wall could have helped you.

Wood products don't have a single "flash point" like liquids; instead, they have an ignition temperature range, typically from around 400°F (200°C) for glowing ignition to 500-600°F (260-315°C) for flaming ignition, though this varies greatly by wood type, moisture, density, and exposure time, with prolonged low-level heating lowering ignition points significantly over years.
 
The wires that caught fire were on a separate circuit from my kiln.
The kin is 220v. The wires that caught fire were 110v and on a different wall.
This was only the 2nd time that I used the kiln pushed right up against the wall.
 
LCoop makes a good point. The 2x4 stud may have actually started smoldering and eventually caught fire..the wires could have just been in the line of fire.. pun intended..
 
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