Here is another one:
Quote:
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...last Friday night I was cutting on a car with my plasma cutter and had a small (this is an understatement per my wife) fire ball and explosion that rocked houses 1/8th mile away. The ensuing fire ball has allowed me to replace a window, put new siding on the house and completely remodel the garage due to smoke damage, not to mention $12k ( not a total estimate yet) of repairs to the inside of the house to clean smoke damage and repaint every room. However my camaro was unscathed except for residue from the fire extinguishers. The car had been sitting 20+ years with open fuel line, no drive train or gas cap. I have been cutting, welding and grinding for the last 11 years with the car sitting in the garage. Luckily the blast blew out the back of the tank as I was in front of it. With help from concerned neighbors and too many fire extinguishers to count, not including mine which by the way had lost it's charge, we were able to pretty much put the fire out before the 7 fire trucks arrived....I was not injured except for minor smoke inhalation and singed hair...Moral of the story is make sure your fire extinguisher is fully charged and no matter how long a gas tank sits, it still may contain explosive fumes.
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Your takeaways:
*Fire extinguishers should be all over the garage. And charged.
*Fuel vapors explode.
*Don't assume.
I really wish I had a detached garage.