So my house burned down yesterday.

[el_walto]

We rent a basement suite in a duplex. We came home from grocery shopping to find our house was on fire. At this point I pretty much assumed I had somehow burned down the house with my varies lipo RC packs in RC cars laying around, or that my ebike in the shed burst into flames and caught the house on fire.

I was VERY relieved to find out the fire was actually caused by the crazy new upstairs tennants (that have smelled like deep fryer since they moved in) that decided to boil oil on a pot on the stove.

Somehow the fire did not spread downstairs, so all we have is a bunch of smoke damage. So probalby only 1000$ loss for us as our bed will probably have to be trashed. Doubt we can get the smell out of that. Full story here.

Al97xaKCIAAtA6A.jpg (33.96 KiB) Viewed 667 times

I had 30Ah of 48V LiFePo4 in the shed and 25Ah of 11V lipo in the house. None of it was damaged.

http://www.kamloopsnews.ca/article/2012 ... -in-duplex

[rojitor]

Damn! That's really bad news, well at least you are not injured. I hope the bed is the worst of your worries.

[Ypedal]

oh man... i can imagine that sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach when the first though of " Lipo.. damit.. " .. but .. nope !

Glad to hear you are ok !!!

[el_walto]

Yeah, i actually feel bad for the owner of the house. We got out way better than I expected when i first drove up to the house on fire.

[neptronix]

My girlfriend almost lit a house up making doughnuts on cast iron, which caused a massive grease fire.. her mom was there at the time, put some cooking mitts on and ran the flaming pan outside, which resulted in major burns to her hands since the cast iron pan ate through the gloves very quickly.

I think grease is the RC Lipo of the cooking world... runaway thermal reaction, indeed!

[biohazardman]

Much better caption than "So I burned my house down yesterday"! Must have been awful coming home to a burning house alright. Had friends that lost everything in a house fire. Glad things turned out as well as they did for you as I expect that is not normaly the case.

[gestalt]

Godamnit people, just put a lid on the damn thing! Fire goes out and everyone gets to keep their house and skin cells intact.

Same goes for yo hillbilly turkey deep fryers ....so dericious

[Drunkskunk]

Glad to hear everyone's allright. That sucks.

[spinningmagnets]

Peanut oil is more expensive, but it will heat up to a higher temp than common cooking oils without catching on fire....still a serious burn risk though. Many people try to cook something big in a pot that barely fits it. Don't want to pay the high price for an extra large pot. I agree with gestalt...don't deep-fry with oil unless you have a lid that fits.

A pan of oil catches on fire, first effort is to put on a lid, then turn off flame/electric-heat...give it a second to smother. If you have a fire extinguisher in the house, it should be in the kitchen, on the opposite wall of the stove.

If you can't reach the knobs to turn off the heat because of the flames, rip off your shirt off to use as a mitt (if you don't have a cooking mitt), and scoot the pan off of the burner that it is on...if the fire is away from the heat source, it often cools rapidly enough top stop producing flammable vapors...

[MikeFairbanks]

Man that freaks me out.

Once, while in the ninth grade, friends came up to me at school and said, "your house burned to the ground." I had no idea what they were talking about, but they seemed so serious that I wondered if it wasn't a joke.

I skipped school, went home and although my house wasn't burned, the larger home on the property was burned to the ground. Someone fell asleep with a cigarette. I had actually lived in that house of an on. It was a cool place.

[Kin]

If you can't reach the knobs to turn off the heat because of the flames, rip off your shirt off to use as a mitt (if you don't have a cooking mitt), and scoot the pan off of the burner that it is on...if the fire is away from the heat source, it often cools rapidly enough top stop producing flammable vapors...

Rip off your one (though minor) layer of protection against 3rd degree burns that if they cover sufficient portion of your body will kill you and then proceed to approach a pan of burning oil? I'm just saying this because I assume most oil fires involve substantially splashing oil.

But I don't mean to sidetrack. I concur with others and say that this is good things aren't as bad as they could have been. I breathed a sigh of relief.

[el_walto]

Video of fire:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HftFzKx1ow[/youtube]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HftFzKx1ow

[StudEbiker]

Bummer. I have to say I was expecting something much worse when I read the topic title. Glad you weren't harmed and your property damage was minimal.

[dogman]

Woah! I bet you really did think you caused it for a min. So glad to hear you are ok. Smoke damage still sucks, but it beats everything gone completely.

[Lessss]

We stopped using deep fryers decade or so ago, just not worth it. Use a spritzer to mist some oil on whatever you are cooking and BAKE it.

For anyone in need of Cheap housing. Well relatively cheap.


http://www.reddit.com/r/TinyHouses/new/

[knoxie]

are you sure that wasnt lipo? pretty sure they can trace that back to lipo, in fact pretty much most fires can be traced back to lipo, the military are well aware of its amazing ability to just burst in to flames at any give time this is whys its widely used in satellites, and ground control backup power devices.

Being serious though, sorry to hear about that but couldnt resist it..

[Ykick]

are you sure that wasnt lipo? pretty sure they can trace that back to lipo, in fact pretty much most fires can be traced back to lipo, the military are well aware of its amazing ability to just burst in to flames at any give time this is whys its widely used in satellites, and ground control backup power devices.

Being serious though, sorry to hear about that but couldnt resist it..

I thought the very same thing. Mostly glad nobody seriously injured and your RC Lipo lives to burn another day!

[spinningmagnets]

Rip off your one (though minor) layer of protection against 3rd degree burns...?

I was referring to the lady who took an oven mitt and carried the burning oil outside. My fear is someone trying to copy that, and then tripping and spilling flaming oil onto a carpet halfway to the door. Instant disaster.

IMHO, a safer effort would be to turn off the heat and put on a lid. Should work 98% of the time. If the flames prevent you from reaching the knobs, a riskier move is to scoot the pot over to a cooler spot away from the heat. Hopefully you have an oven mitt next to the pot.

[Kin]

fair, fair. In that sense, agreed.

[deronmoped]

I'm proactive when it comes to fire prevention.

1) Never leave the kitchen when I have something on the stove, cast iron cook ware with lids.
2) No candles.
3) Fire extinguishers everywhere, kitchen, hall way, garage, outside.
4) Hoses at the front of the house, back of the house, shovel out and handy in back yard canyon area.
5) Smoke detectors.
6) Tail the wires out for outlets, no use of the stab connectors as a junction.
7) Close all the doors inside the house if I going to be gone for longer then a few hours.
I don't drink, I don't smoke.
9) Cut down dead weeds/brush.

[RallySTX]

The title nearly gave me a coronary! And I live in a concrete building. After reading, I was very relieved to find out everyone is ok, but the bed died an untimely demise. Good time to spring for a water bed! I'm nervous enough about bringing lipo into my place, with only the oven as a decent storage place. God help me the day I forget to check before preheating for a pizza! At least you got there in time for a killer pic!
Brian L.

[Ykick]

God help me the day I forget to check before preheating for a pizza!

LOL... I've cultivated the habit of removing the knob whenever I store bricks in my old school oven. Those new fangled digital ovens? I have no idea but if you got one I suggest a sign placed next to the oven temp control.

[RallySTX]

Nah, it's a dial unit, but I'm just obtuse enough to crank it up without it on anyway, and that's what has me sweatin!
Brian L.

[amberwolf]

I'm nervous enough about bringing lipo into my place, with only the oven as a decent storage place. God help me the day I forget to check before preheating for a pizza!

What Ykick said:




So far it's saved them once already.

[GCinDC]

two weeks before 9/11, my apartment burned down. i was away for the weekend and got the call that everything i had was now gone.

fire marshall said that a video camera battery charger along with many wires coiled together under the couch with a cheap 6' extension cord started the fire...

i was worried it was the household wiring that i had exposed when build the loft...

all i'd had was junk, and i'd just met my future wife, so i didn't really care. i remodeled it, and that was good practice for building my present house.