PLEASE be careful w/ your ashes (5 die from Yule log)

[pen]

In the past, I have been knocked around a bit for being very cautious in giving advice relating to ash disposal / containment. I contend that the only container UL certified to hold ashes in your home is the stove. Even taken outside (as it appears happened in this case) they can be very dangerous and it doesn't take much for an accident to take place.

This is such a sad story. I've read the grandfather involved was a safety inspector for years and most recently worked as Santa for the holidays. He was found dead outside a window and his grandaughter just inside of it as apparently he was close in saving them both but just fell short.

Please be careful and always err on the side of caution when critiquing what may seem as overly cautious advice on here at times. Remember, nobody wants accidents to happen to those that we are trying to help / give advice to.

It's easy to point fingers (with no working smoke detectors) and speculate what happened exactly with the ashes, but that's not the point.

I just hope my practices are safe enough to keep something as tragic as this from ever happening and hope my (our) advice on this site can do the same for others.

http://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/...e-Log-Christmas-Madonna-Badger-136255773.html

http://gma.yahoo.com/blogs/abc-blogs/five-killed-christmas-day-house-fire-connecticut-164006059.html

pen

 

[stejus]

I just saw this on the news this morning. Too many of these happen this time of the year and unfortunatly, loss of life... My heart goes out to this family because it truely wasn't their time to go...

Wood burners! Remember to remove your ashes safely and get them out of the house in an approved can with a lid! Don't get lazy and say I'll take them out later...

 

[Oldhippie]

Thanks for posting that. The newspaper article certainly presents a picture of a tragedy that could have been prevented.

Heating with wood is serious business, with plenty of room for shortcuts and/or accidents due to insufficient knowledge of the activity at hand. Results can be terrible.

Good to remember that sometimes.

Such a sad story.

 

[colebrookman]

Even more importantly, fire is "hinting" no smoke detectors. That's why the fire could grow so large yet go undetected. Fires in todays homes double in size every minute. Smoke detectors provide a crucial warning. For a million and a half house, a good sprinkler system would have confined it to the place of origen saving lives. Be safe.
Ed

 

[HatCityIAFF]

Thoughts and prayers got out to the family and brothers down in Stamford. The Mayor is coming out with a press conference today to state the exact cause of the fire, and more details.

ALWAYS put your ashes in a metal container, WITH a lid, on a NON COMBUSTABLE surface. I can't tell you how many times we go to a house and the owner has old ashes in a plastic tupperwear container on his back deck!

Also, SMOKE DETECTORS SAVE LIVES! I made it a point to replace the outdated one in my basement when I installed my insert a couple of months ago. Does it do me any good if i'm not home and the things going off and the house burns down? I could care less. It's I'm at work for the night and my wife is upstairs sleeping. We had two fires over the holiday weekend. One on Christmas Eve, and on on Christmas night. Turns out on Christmas night, a single dad has his two young sons visiting, awoke to the sound of the smoke detectors going off on the 2nd floor. He got out of bed, and the thick, dark smoke was already down to his waiste. Crawled to the other side of the house, awoke his two sons, and they got out of the house with minor smoke inhalation. By the time we got there the whole 2nd story was engulfed in flames.What would of happened if working detectors wern't installed? I don't even want to think about it.

Be Smart!

 

[firefighterjake]

As my brothers have mentioned already . . . we have seen far too many fires caused by the improper disposal of ashes over the many years . . . so Pen . . . no, I don't think your advice is over-kill or over the top.

And as mentioned . . . it will be curious to see if there were working detectors present or not . . . from my first read of the one report it sounds as though the detectors were not working or present . . . but it could also be a misinterpretation on the reporter's part.

 

[Clyde S. Dale]

Our prayers go out to this family. This is the worst time of year for a tragedy like this to happen. The day after Xmas 2010 my family was driving home from visting my parents. We were only 2 minutes from home and passed a house that I noticed a flame crawling up the side of their attached garage. The vinyl siding was on fire and it was making its way to the roof. We called 911 immediately and I got out of the car to look for a garden hose since the fire was still relatively small. While I was doing that, my wife knocked on all doors too see if anyone was home. All spigots were off for the winter so no luck there, but no one was home which was lucky. The local fire Dept is less than a mile from this house and they were there in about 3 minutes. They quickly extinguished the fire and to this day the homeowners have yet to fix the damage - I drive by there everyday and look curiously. The siding and vapor barrier burned away in about a 5x10 area on the gable end of their garage so it's down to the sheathing. The cause of the fire was hot ashes dumped into a plastic trash container.

 

[snowleopard]

Something to keep in mind: make sure anyone dealing with your fire knows your protocol for ash disposal. Doesn't matter how safe your system is if it doesn't get used.

We had an overnight guest at Christmas who got up early and started a fire. My ashes go into an old turkey roaster as I'm taking it out of the stove, and then get dumped into a galvanized metal trash can that stays under the deck next to my firewood, and then the lid goes back on the trash can, roaster up-ended on the trash can so it doesn't get snow in it. Went outside yesterday and found the roaster sitting with ashes in it on the trash can, immediately adjacent to my wood supply. We have pets that use that corridor between wood piles to go in and out of the house. Several things would have had to go wrong for that to have turned into a house fire: ashes knocked over, live coals in the ash, wood igniting, deck igniting, but still not worth the risk. Takes another 30 seconds to dump the ashes safely.

DS knows the drill, but a little review of how critical this is won't hurt anybody.

 

[eclecticcottage]

Wow, the Yahoo coverage of that fire has been seriously lacking, it hasn't even mentioned the ashes.

Makes you want to store them in a metal container on a cement pad surrounded by a moat...

Ashes go into a metal garbage can with lid sitting on cement here.

 

[oldspark]

Makes you want to store them in a metal container on a cement pad surrounded by a moat...

New code coming out next year.

 

[raybonz]

I read that this 1.7 million dollar home was bought last year so I would think that smokes were required at the time of the sale.. In Mass. smokes have been required back in 1984 when I sold my 1st house and would hope that CT. would require the same or better.. The Yahoo news clip I read this AM didn't mention what may have started this tragic blaze but I did wonder if it was woodstove or fireplace related.. I hope I never read anything like this happening to a Hearth.com member and probably won't because most here tend to be overkill if anything.. May they rest in peace..

Ray

 

[oldspark]

That story is hard to read, what a sad thing to happen to any family.

 

[basswidow]

My God, a terrible news story. As a parent - this one will tear you up.

I'm gonna check my detectors again and have a drill and plan with my wife and kids.

 

[HatCityIAFF]

I think the mayor or fire marshalls office is doing a news conference late this afternoon...could clear things up. Smoke detectors are required in CT. One in every bedroom, and one on every floor. When we go to a house for anything, we always poke around and make note of it. If not, the fire marshalls office gets a email and they follow up. We even carry detectors/batteries on the rigs if someone might only need to replace one. This house in Stamford was under renovation, so i'm not sure if they were installed. Should of been if people were living there, but we'll have to wait for the report. But no need to Monday morning quarterback the issue, just a terrible tragedy.

 

[sebring]

This story makes me want to buy more smoke detectors.

 

[firefighterjake]

I read that this 1.7 million dollar home was bought last year so I would think that smokes were required at the time of the sale.. In Mass. smokes have been required back in 1984 when I sold my 1st house and would hope that CT. would require the same or better.. The Yahoo news clip I read this AM didn't mention what may have started this tragic blaze but I did wonder if it was woodstove or fireplace related.. I hope I never read anything like this happening to a Hearth.com member and probably won't because most here tend to be overkill if anything.. May they rest in peace..

Ray

One story also said the house was being renovated . . . and a lot of times I see contractors disable the smoke detectors if they're doing a lot of painting (with air) or dry walling . . . due to the dust and paint setting them off . . . I'm kind of curious to see if this might have been a factor . . . of course at this point all this is just speculation until we hear from the CT Fire Marshal.

 

[raybonz]

I read that this 1.7 million dollar home was bought last year so I would think that smokes were required at the time of the sale.. In Mass. smokes have been required back in 1984 when I sold my 1st house and would hope that CT. would require the same or better.. The Yahoo news clip I read this AM didn't mention what may have started this tragic blaze but I did wonder if it was woodstove or fireplace related.. I hope I never read anything like this happening to a Hearth.com member and probably won't because most here tend to be overkill if anything.. May they rest in peace..

Ray

One story also said the house was being renovated . . . and a lot of times I see contractors disable the smoke detectors if they're doing a lot of painting (with air) or dry walling . . . due to the dust and paint setting them off . . . I'm kind of curious to see if this might have been a factor . . . of course at this point all this is just speculation until we hear from the CT Fire Marshal.

True Jake that could be the case.. I only have 3 wired smokes. one on each level but that was the requirement going back 25 yrs. ago.. Now all bedrooms must have them plus one on every level.. A very good thing in my opinion and probably the biggest lifesaver ever for homeowners and renters..

Ray

 

[iceman]

This story makes me want to buy more smoke detectors.

X2
As a matter of fact I am ... Gonna put them everywhere that would make sense

 

[pen]

Just tested the batteries at the time change, and know they are no more than a year old, and know that all the detectors have a low battery warning, but I put new 9v's in anyway today.

Double checked the date on the carbon monoxide detector too.

Can't hurt. If any good can come from such stories, hopefully lots of people who saw the story have done the same and the 5 lives lost may save many more.

pen

 

[Beer Belly]

Had a friend put his Ash Can full of hot embers on his deck.....woke up to the smell of something burning.....the Ash Can was so hot, it burned a hole thru the decking.....it was ground level, so it's not like the Ash Can fell a story or two......but a lucky man for sure. Also gotta remember that if you leave your can outside, probably a good idea to put a brick, or something on the lid.....if that lid gets blown off, God only knows what could happen with a decent wind.

 

[Fredo]

It is horrible what happened to this family. It sends chills down my spine and tears to my eyes as I write this. I am thinking of my own family and I can't even begin to imagine what it would be like if I lost them.

When my stove was installed 3 weeks ago the first thing that I put next to stove was a fire extinguisher.
I also have a fire extinguisher at my bedroom door entrance and one in my utility room where my gas furnace is. We also have smoke and heat detectors throughout my home and multiple carbon monoxide detectors. I have told my teenage son and my daughter that there is nothing worth saving in our home and to get out of the house if there were ever a fire, GOD forbid!

Fredo

 

[pen]

Depending on where you put it next to the stove Fredo, it might be wisest to move it next to the exit for the house in this area. That way you get to run to the exit, grab the extinguisher, then make a decision w/ a clear exit on whether it is wise to go back to the fire w/ the extinguisher. Would hate to have the extinguisher be in the fire zone!

pen

 

[Fredo]

Pen,

Thanks and I just moved extinguisher.


Fredo

 

[colebrookman]

Re. smoke and Co detectors; most children, even those 21 years old or so, probably will not be awakened by the detectors as simulated test have shown. If there are children in your home prepare to rescue them and don't rely on the detectors waking them up. Be safe.
Ed

 

[pen]

Re. smoke and Co detectors; most children, even those 21 years old or so, probably will not be awakened by the detectors as simulated test have shown. If there are children in your home prepare to rescue them and don't rely on the detectors waking them up. Be safe.
Ed

My father worked at Frito Lay growing up. I remember waking up to the smoke detector (I was a kid, but a light sleeper) and dad got up as well. Both were checking things out when my sister yells from her sleep "Dad, bring home Doritos!" :shut: Guess it sounded like his alarm to her. She was probably 6-8 at the time.

pen