How to Prevent a Devastating Garage Fire

      The night sky was punctuated with the bright, dazzling lights of the fire trucks that illuminated the scorched shell of the garage. The dancing flames were now extinguished but the smoke continued to billow out of the doors and windows as the firemen worked to hose down the remaining embers.  Nearby, the visibly distressed owner of the garage could only watch and wonder how bad the damage was to his cars and tools.

A nightmare such as this can strike anywhere. Just the smallest inattention to fire precautions details can have major consequences.  It is only natural when working in the shop to be focused on the piece one is grinding and not on where the sparks are going. In this case the sparks from the grinding smoldered undetected on the ground for 10-15 minutes before igniting the wood shelving next to the grinder.  The owner was in his house washing up when he noticed his garage was on fire. 

Safety

It is only natural to want to put out the fire oneself but when the fire is more than two feet high and seems to be growing, call 911 and stay away from the building. Do not attempt to fight an uncontained fire.  Garages contain a lot of combustibles such as propane, paint stripper and solvents, which can explode when hot. 

Get fire extinguishers that are labeled with a B or a C rating because only Carbon Dioxide fire extinguishers (BC) will be able to handle small fires caused by flammable liquids or electricity. Type A water extinguishers are for paper fires should never be used for garage fires.

            Always keep a fire extinguisher near the exit door. A backup extinguisher can be kept at the rear of the garage but the one near the exit is the most important one. Ervin was unable to put the fire out because his fire extinguishers were deep in the garage and the fire was near the door. If he had one just inside the door, he might have been able to contain the fire until the fire trucks arrived.  Still it is best to stay away from a fire that has taken root and is growing.

Ways to prevent fires:

 Regularly sweep the floor and keep any trash, rags or combustible debris away from the vicinity of the grinder or welder so that a stray spark will not smolder or ignite. If you want to reuse rags, they should be dried on a line, like laundry, in the back of the garage away from the work area where sparks could ignite them.

Flammables should be kept in approved, sealed containers. These containers should be

stored in approved flammable liquid storage cabinets or approved storage rooms

An area that can be easily overlooked is extensions cards. Periodically replace all extension cords, even the heavy-duty cords can break down over time. 

Extension cords do not have an unlimited life span. The constant curling and uncurling breaks down the insulation inside the cord and the cord can develop a short.

Periodically feel around each electrical outlet to see if any of them feel warm to the touch. If they are, stop using that outlet and get an electrician to look at it. Also, don't overload electrical circuits by plugging too many items into one outlet.  If your fuses are blowing or your circuit breakers are popping, hire an electrician to look at your system.

Don’t use power tools that have frayed cords or extension cords that look frayed.  A frayed cord could develop into a short that can cause a fire.

Check your insurance policy.

Does your garage’s fire insurance policy cover your vehicles? You may be surprised to learn that ‘contents of the garage’ does not include ‘motorized conveyances’. One owner was shocked when clause 3b of his insurance policy was shown to him.

   3b-Property not covered: Motor vehicles or all other motorized land conveyances.

                1. Exclusion: Conveyances designed for assisting the handicapped, such as motorized wheelchairs.

Luckily for this owner, he had temporarily moved his trophy-winning 1964 Ford Ranchero to the backyard to allow him more room to work on his other two cars or the fire would have been even more devastating because the Ranchero was not covered under the garage insurance policy.  To be on the safe side, classic cars should have their own fire insurance policy.

Recovery-

            After the fire, find your policy and call the insurance company.  The insurance company will ask for an itemized list of everything that was in the fire.   A good precaution action would be to keep a list of the make and model of every tool or machine you use in the garage   Hopefully you will never need it, but It will save you days of agony. Creating a list now will be a lot easier than trying to figure out what that misshapen lump of plastic once was or trying to read a scorched name plate.

 Once created, keeping the inventory list current is easily done by adding the name of the new tool to the list before you add it to the toolbox.   Having the list handy will allow you more time to find a good adjustor and a good contractor to help you rebuild.

While your insurance company will send out their own insurance adjuster, you can ask for a second opinion from an independent insurance adjuster.  Call the companies that the Insurance adjuster suggests and also ask friends for recommendations on a good contractor. You should get an estimate from three different companies. Checking the Better Business Bureau to see if the contractor is in good standing is a good idea, so is finding out from word of mouth what quality of work the contractor does.