Emergen cy question; non train reelated

[Anonymous]

You were very lucky this time,my next door neighbor's house burned due to a open gas can in the basement next to a hot lawnmover and gas water heater. I help put the fire out before it spread to my house 10 feet away. They had over $80,000 in damages and are still making repairs a year later. Put that left over gas into your car, not your house.

[Birds]

I knew there was a reason I liked steam engines...

We used to keep a properly sized wrench outside by our natural gas meter and cut-off valve incase there was a need.

[lionelsoni]

Roy, I think that gasoline trucks are pretty uniformly marked "flammable". The two words mean the same thing in most contexts; and "flammable" came into use as a precaution against interpretation of "inflammable" as "nonflammable".

[wrmcclellan]

Dave,

inflammable in the case of gasoline means explosive (which is why you see inflammable on the rear of tanker trucks carrying gasoline) among many other Webster definitions such as violent, excitable, etc.

Flammable means about the same thing but without the explosive part - capable of being easily ignited and of burning quickly.

[Anonymous]

Re: wrmcclellan's post:

Your neighbor's experience represents a pain-in-the-a$$ indeed, but better a tag on your house than a tag on your toe -- and the toes of your family members..

wolverine49

[FJ and G]

Wolverine,

I've always wondered if gasoline is flammable or inflammable?[banghead]

[Anonymous]

It's surprising that so few replies (e.g. chuckn) have noted the vital difference between "gasoline" and natural gas/propane. (The Brits avoid this confusion by calling gasoline "petrol.")

Any of them can be very dangerous when uncontrolled, but it is important to be able to distinguish among them.

The odor of gasoline is familiar to virtually everybody. Natural gas and propane have different but extremely pungent odors -- a "stink-substance" that is added by the producer so that even a small leak is detectable.

When I read the original post I thought the problem was "gas," not gasoline, as did others who advised calling the "gas company."

Gasoline should not be stored inside the house or garage. Propane bottles not be brought indoors either; nor charcoal stoves/grills, for different reasons.

Natural gas (and sometimes propane) are generally run into houses via pipe or tubing, where they may fuel stoves, water heaters, clothes dryers, fireplaces, and even some refrigerators. In all such cases there should be both a "local" (at the appliance) and a MASTER shut-off valve OUTSIDE the house. One needs to know what it is, where it is, and how to close it.

Some require a special wrench. The wrench should be chained close to the valve. Avoid painting over the valve and causing it to stick open.

With any kind of "gas" odor, you need to get the occupants outside immediately while not doing anything that could cause a spark, including flipping light switches.

Gasoline-powered boats present their own specific problems, and have strict fueling rules that one sees violated every day -- often with catastrophic results.

Years ago my father taught me that the FIRST thing one needs to know about any power tool, appliance, or mechanical system is HOW TO TURN IT OFF!

I would recommend calling the fire department (911) in all cases, with an additional immediate call to the Gas Company's emergency number (not the business office) in cases where natural gas or propane is the problem.

wolverine49

[wrmcclellan]

Be aware that when you call the gas company and they cannot find an easy to resolve source of the gas leak (i.e. - pilot out), your house will be red tagged and you will have to go through a complete city code inspection and gas line pressure check before you will allowed to occupy the house again. In some cities like where I live, this opens the door for a complete code inspection of all systems (e.g. wiring, plumbing, etc.).

This happened to a former neighbor of mine that rented his house while he was on assignment out of the country. The tenants added their own gas line for a gas dryer they wanted and then when they had a problem, they called the gas company. The gas company called the city who red tagged the house. The tenants were forced to move out and left my friend with a huge bill to fix the problem and get the red tag off the house.

[Jumijo]

The fire department in our town has never lost a foundation! [;)][:P][:D]


Jim

[jimhaleyscomet]

Gasoline vapors tend to pool low down. That is why new homes with water heaters in the garage mount the heaters on a 2 foot pillar.

My snowblower once leaked a bunch of gas in the garage. My wife came home and smelled the gas and called the fire department. My three year old son was sitting outside watching as the fire truck pulled up. With wide eyes he remarked "Mom, are they here to burn down our house?" We kind of wondered why he whould think that until we realized that he had noticed that every time he saw a house on fire there was a fire truck there.

Jim H

[cnw1995]

Wow, I didn't know that Bob. Right after 9/11, a house a few blocks over blew up - and heavily damaged the surrounding homes. What a tremendous sound. A suicide disconnected the gas line and lit a match.

[FJ and G]

Bob,

When I wired my basement, I removed some drywall and punched a hole thru right to the HVAC area. That explains it.

(my box is in the garage so I had to run all the electric, phone, cable lines down thru the floor)

-------

Actually, I know think this post has some relevance to toy trains as part of the reason for wiring and finishing the basement was to get trains running downstairs.

[lionelsoni]

You may have noticed that in garages attached to houses the floor is lowered by about 6 inches. This is to keep the gasoline fumes (which are heavier than air) from getting into the house before they can leak out under the garage door. There are also rules about keeping sources of ignition, like water heaters and clothes dryers, 18 inches above the garage floor.

[Jumijo]

"I wonder how many other people store flamables in their garage?"

Anyone who keeps a car or truck in their garage is storing flammables in it.

[Anonymous]

"I wonder how many other people store flamables in their garage?"

Anybody that has a gas powered lawnmower, snowblower, weed wacker, .....

Which means most of us. Gasoline expansion is pretty impressive.

[FJ and G]

Thanks so much for your help. Apparently, the gas fumes traveled down from the garage to the basement HVAC room. I usually think of fumes rising. I wonder how many other people store flamables in their garage

[Anonymous]

Natural gas usually has a slighly rotten eggs aroma and the most likely source in a home are extinquished pilot lights. About the only appliance left that doesn't routinely use electronic ignition is your water heater. Propane/Bottled Gas smells like propane. Gasoline smells like, well, like gasoline.

BTW, a single gallon of gas when properly mixed with air has the equivalent explosive force of 80+ sticks of dynamite (about the only fire safety demo/fact I remember from grade school thanks to a very effective and graphic demo involving a pingpong ball, a plexigllass tube and a single drop of gasoline).

[dougdagrump]

Shouldn't have had that burrito for lunch! [:o)]

[jonadel]

To everyone:

if you smell gas get the hell out and then call the gas company, we had a neighbor's house (one mile away) blow up two weeks ago, she was killed instantly-- he was outside working. They had smelled gas the night before but weren't worried, the next morning they had not gotten around to calling the gas company.

Jon

[andregg1]

Sound good!
Now run your trains!!
Andre.

[FJ and G]

Thanks, all, they finally came at 8:45 p.m. EDT. Traced the smell to the garage, where I recently filled a plastic gas can with lawnmower gas; apparently it had expanded during the heat and was leaking; took it outside.

Whew! crisis is over. Wonder how the smell made its way to HVAC area in basement?

Gas is sure insidious chemical; ought to have a warning to fill just 3/4

[csxt30]

Keep us posted, Dave !

[andregg1]

Go out !!
Don try to find the leak, because you can folling sleep into your basement.
Andre.

[FJ and G]

Thanks; just called Washington Gas. Thanks; they're on their way; no lights on.

Man, is this a great forum!@ Life saving

[Anonymous]

If' it's very stong don't turn the lights on or off. Make sure your not leaking from a waterheater or something. Pronto.

[donl409]

call your local gas company

[FJ and G]

smell gas in basement; should I call 9-11?