Fire in the Mower!!!!

Whoa! Not too good! Plastic gas tank and hardened rubber hose that cracked? I've seen that before, even got off lucky once, gas was running out in pools on the garage floor, but it didn't ignite. (The engine was cold.)

Jon

Determine point of failure? Only two gallons? ;)

Wes

-- "Additionally as a security officer, I carry a gun to protect government officials but my life isn't worth protecting at home in their eyes." Dick Anthony Heller

I hate when that happens... Think diesel for the next one...

A highly respected teacher in my area ( Charlotte, NC ) was killed not to long ago in a similar incident when he attempted to refuel a hot mower.

How on earth do you get killed doing that? Worst I can see is a *boom*, drop, roll, *expletive*, "do I have any hair left?" sequence.

And people looked at me funny when I bolted a bracket and a 1A-10BC Dry Chem Extinguisher on the back fender of our old riding mower.

If I had a nickel for every brush fire, building fire and forest fire that could have been stopped small if only the person running the power equipment or welding torch had been a little prepared for it...

One squirt at the beginning, and you wouldn't have to A) wait for the FD to put it out and B) buy a new mower. Stop it fast, and repairs are simple. But wash off the ABC powder (Ammonium Phosphate) fast, it's corrosive as heck - BC powder (Bicarbonate of Soda) is fairly benign, but less useful.

Note: Conditions have to be perfect to get gasoline to go BOOM! Worst that can happen is the tank melts and dumps it all out at once and you get a WHOOSH! as the little fire gets big in a hurry.

You can safely get into extinguisher range from upwind, and if it does go WHOOSH! on you just slam the handle and dump the whole extinguisher in a cloud in front of you, then retreat fast - the cloud of powder blocks the radiant heat amazingly well.

If you have time, a second extinguisher, and a second body that knows how this works, use teamwork. You go in to put out the fire, and the Safety Person stands by one or two steps behind you with a fresh extinguisher, ready to do the 'cloud cover' if needed.

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The same thing happened with my mower when I had a nephew down visiting using it. He was about 13 and had been in Cub/Boy scouts for several years and handled it very well. Ran to the house and told my wife to call the fire department ad then went back and shoveled dirt on it and put it out.

Carl Boyd

Dang the bad luck. Just when the 3 day weekend sales are about to start!!

Mart> Had a bit of excitment today. Photos at:

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guess you won't be needing to mow that bit of lawn for a while!

The usual sequence: Fire flashes right in front of you. Startled intake of breath, consisting of vaporized burning gasoline blistered lungs death within hours or days.

When the fire started (small gas leak which got out of hand) I went in the house and got the extinguisher. My wife was afraid that the thing would blow in a giant ball of fire like a movie scene so she wanted me to stay well away from it. I have not been married for 42 years without learning a thing or two so I listened to her. That plus I never really liked that mower anyway.

Never having had the opportunity to photograph a flaming mower before I got the camera and started shooting the conflagration.

The fire guy asked if we had a hose and when my wife said that she thought one does not put water on a gasoline fire. He replied that they do it all the time with car fires. Live and learn.

All in all, no one was hurt, except the mower, I got some nifty photos and an interesting tale to tell.

Well, tomorrow we are off to the grand re-opening of the Saugus Iron Works National Historic Site. Photos from a previous visit are at

Errol Groff

-snip-

Hehe- Thanks for the details. I was thinking you were either a youtube wannabe, an idiot, or an insurance scammer.

Now I've got you pegged as a guy who's been married long enough to know when to say 'Yes dear'. ['oh, and BTW, honey, now that filming is over. . we need a new mower']

Jim

You should have went for the fire extinguisher instead of the camera.

You can't go to no Historic Site... Ya still got grass to MOW !!!!! Ken.

A couple of years ago there was a recall on a whole bunch of mower fuel tanks that were manufactured without any barbs on the nipples. Apparently a lot of people were having their fuel lines fall off, leading to exactly that scenario.

That's rather graphic. I'm surprised, the FD guy looks like he's using a water hose. Guess that would work, after the gasoline burned out. Cheaper than dry chemical.

Not only the eight bucks gas, but you lost the mower. Likely beyond repair. Your mower is going in flames, and you reach for a camera? I'd have gone and got a fire extinguisher first. But, the pictures are worth seeing.