Dumping ashes in a Pizza Box on the porch! - Guess what happened?

[Don2222]

Hello

Just on the CH 9 News in Manchester NH Tonight!

http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/news/910380-196/mont-vernon-home-destroyed-by-fire.html


Story
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Ashes placed in pizza box said to be responsible for Mont Vernon blaze

By KATHY CLEVELAND

Staff Writer

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Kathy Cleveland photo Firefighters from at least four departments battle a fire that destroyed a house on Brook Road on Mont Vernon. The fire started around noon Friday on a screened porch where woodstove ashes were stored in pizza box.

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Kathy Cleveland photo Firefighters from at least four departments battle a fire that destroyed a house on Brook Road on Mont Vernon. The fire started around noon Friday on a screened porch where woodstove ashes were stored in pizza box.

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MONT VERNON – Ashes stored in a pizza box on a screened porch apparently started a fire late Friday morning that destroyed a house on Brook Road.

As homeowner Troy Milne watched firefighters battle the fire among heavy smoke in snow, rain and sleet early Friday afternoon, he said he had noticed small flames in the pizza box and had tried to put the fire out himself.

Flames spread quickly to nearby boxes, he said. He and his two daughters fled the house with the two family dogs.

Milne said he suspects the family cat escaped the fire.

Milne’s wife, Cindy, was at work when the fire broke out, and the couple’s two girls, ages 12 and 14, were home.

The small one-story house appears to be a total loss, and Milne said the family will probably stay with relatives in Massachusetts or Maine.

Small flames could occasionally be seen on the roof and near the floor, and huge clouds of white and gray smoke were coming from the front and back of the building.

The porch area was totally blackened.

Mont Vernon Fire Chief Jay Wilson confirmed that all the people inside were able to evacuate.

Brook Road is a dirt road off New Boston Post Road, not far from the Amherst town line.

Fire departments from Amherst, Mont Vernon, New Boston, Milford and Goffstown were at the scene, at the end of a steep, winding driveway.

 

[Tailrace]

The lack of simple common sense totally amazes me.....unbelievable :smirk:

 

[Nicholas440]

You just cant drum some common sense into some people. He probably figured the ash was cool. Ashes are supposed to go into metal containers, not cardboard boxes.

 

[arnash]

That's how most forest fires start, a campfire that seems to be dead...until the wind starts to blow. That's why large heaps of ash need tons of water to fully extinguish the burning coals that can't even be seen.

 

[soupy1957]

"Stupid is, as stupid do-es" (Forest Gump)



-Soupy1957

 

[Pellet-King]

Woodstove ashes they say, well i burned wood for 15 yrs before i got a pellet stove and those ashes will stay hot under the ash for 3-4 days
Pellet stove ash unless you got a big ole clinker stay hot for less than 5-15 mins

 

[Lousyweather]

its the stove dealers' fault! the manual didnt say not to dump the ashes in a pizza box, and the dealer, Im sure, didnt tell then not to either! yup...totally the dealer on this one......

 

[Xena]

I swear, some people should have to get a license just to exist
on this planet.

 

[Glosta]

its the stove dealers' fault! the manual didnt say not to dump the ashes in a pizza box, and the dealer, Im sure, didnt tell then not to either! yup...totally the dealer on this one......

You're absolutely right. It's the stove dealers fault. They should have learned their lesson after McDonalds was found guilty for serving that hot cup of coffee.

 

[Snowy Rivers]

Really hard for me to understand why, what with all that snow outside, just dump the ashes into a bucket and toss them off into the snow.

Yesss, stupid indeed.

I use one of my heavy plastic pails to hold the ashes when I clean the stoves out, BUTTTTTTTTT as soon as I finish the job, I head outside and toss the stuff off into the side yard where its wet.

Then tap the bucket good to be sure there is nothing in it.

The heavy polyethelene buckets would take a lot to even melt, let alone burn.

I certainly would not leave ashes in any container in the house, Ya never know when your gonna have a live ember in there somewhere.

Same mentality prevails with folks trying to drive their car down the icy roadway, Hmmmmm must be the states fault for not telling them that Ice is slippery.


Snowy

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Hell of a way to get a new shack.

 

[velotocht]

My insurance company bumped my house policy rates by 5% due to my alternate 'solid fuel' heating source. 'Solid fuel' covers pellet, wood, coal etc. The agent told me that most fires caused by 'solid fuel' heating are not from the stove - but from the ashes after cleaning. Interesting.

RonB

 

[Don2222]

Woodstove ashes they say, well i burned wood for 15 yrs before i got a pellet stove and those ashes will stay hot under the ash for 3-4 days
Pellet stove ash unless you got a big ole clinker stay hot for less than 5-15 mins

Thanks Pellet - King . Good Info

You are exactly right.

I had a wood stove too and had to empty the ash while the wood stove was going. Those ashes do stay hot for a long time! The first think I did was purchase one of those old solid metal trash cans to dump the ash into for a few days before dumping into the yard.

The pellet stove I usually wait till it is down for a cleaning before dumping the ash so it is pretty cool. However still careful where I dump the ash because ashes and cardboard, paper.. etc do not mix!!

 

[Don2222]

My insurance company bumped my house policy rates by 5% due to my alternate 'solid fuel' heating source. 'Solid fuel' covers pellet, wood, coal etc. The agent told me that most fires caused by 'solid fuel' heating are not from the stove - but from the ashes after cleaning. Interesting.

RonB

So that means the house should be still covered by insurance in this fire?

 

[gbreda]

Pizza box is bad enough, but he could have at least put the thing in the snow for a while. Plenty of it around.
What a shame. At least no one was hurt.

 

[shawneyboy]

Pizza box is bad enough, but he could have at least put the thing in the snow for a while. Plenty of it around.
What a shame. At least no one was hurt.

+1 thats what I was thinking..... If you are gonna dump them in something flamable, at least put the damn box out in the snow....

Shawn

 

[ScottyT]

I was a firefighter for 7 years and have seen this very think happen 4 times. What people think I will never know.

 

[Ro3bert]

Reminds me of a story a friend or ours who had a Pizza parlor told me (true story).

A lady bought a large pizza, picked it up and took it home. Shortly she returned demanding her money back because the cheese, topping and sauce slipped off the bread piling up on the side of the box. She was livid. Turns out she tucked the box under her arm vertically. What was she thinking of and what did she expect to see when she got home?

So, yes, people can, will, and do some stupid things either through ignorance or thoughtlessness.

Robert

 

[mike56]

What's really scary is these same people reproduce and are allowed to vote, I'm glad no one was hurt including the animals.

 

[Delta-T]

this is the reason I always put my smoldering embers and ashes in those chinese food cartons, pizza box is for amateurs.

 

[BrotherBart]

Soon there will be a law that all pizza boxes have to be fireproof.

 

[slls]

Must be really hard to put out a burning pizza box.

 

[save$]

How about mandatory home insurance (to include flood and dumb insurance) which is administered by the IRS!! and if the home owner doesn't pay, they will be fined. IRS to start collecting fees this year, but policy protection won't be covered for 4 years. Now doesn't that sound like a real deal?

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

What's really scary is these same people reproduce and are allowed to vote, I'm glad no one was hurt including the animals.

That explains it.