Followup: West Seattle deck fire brings thanks, and a warning

| Safety | West Seattle fires | West Seattle news

An owner of the Beach Drive-area home where firefighters put out a deck fire (WSB coverage here) yesterday afternoon sent the following e-mail to both warn others, and thank the heroic neighbors who spotted the fire:

I am one of the homeowners who deeply appreciates the help of our neighbors who called 911 yesterday. Here is what appears to have happened: Our deck was being refinished. After the worker (who doesn’t smoke) left, it appears that the rags and cans of deck stain were heated by the sun, burst into flame and ignited the siding and the deck. The firefighters arrived and extinguished the fire just as the flames broke through the windows and began to reach inside! Now, we are dealing with repair and lots of cleanup. Thanks to our neighbors and our very fast and professional fire department!

The homeowner says it’s worth taking a look around your home/condo/apartment to be sure you don’t have any unattended cans at risk of doing the same thing. If you do – but they’re not in active use, so you just want to get rid of them – here’s how/where to do that.

coffee September 21, 2011 (12:35 pm)

When we lived outside of Washington DC, this very same thing happened to our neighbor across the street from us. Check all your cans that you have stored in areas that can get warm and move them. Also, rags should not be left in a closed container.

Michael Waldo September 22, 2011 (1:28 pm)

As someone who painted for many years, a tip. Any rags used for oil based staining must either be
placed in a bucket of water or laid out flat on a non-flammable surface, like a sidewalk, grass or over a chain link fence. Who ever stained this persons desk is competely responsible for the fire because they did not properly handle the stain soaked rags.

Teak oil user September 22, 2011 (8:53 pm)

For newbies like me:
Setting out oily rags to air dry in a single layer on the ground let’s heat they generate dissipate safely. But if the rags are left wadded up they can generate enough heat to ignite, although that’s hard to believe if you’ve never seen it. Once dry, the rags feel slightly stiff, the flammable element has dissipated, and they can be safely thrown out. After that disaster house fire a month ago, I’ve been especially paranoid about this kind of thing.

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