fire safety signs

37chief

Well-known Member
Location
California
I was thinking about a shop fire. Something no one wants, but it happens. When the fire dept comes up to a fire, I am thinking they should know what's inside. usually have one torch set, sometimes gas cans for the weed eater. Sometimes diesel cans outside. My oil is in a separate small shed away from the main building. Am thinking about getting some hazard contents signs. Any of you have these signs? Stan
 
Been a long time since I've dealt with that, and I'm sure the rules have changed and are different for each area.

Best I remember there was an exemption for small quantities of flammables that didn't require the signs. As long as we limited the flammables to what would normally be found in a residential setting, the rules were much less stringent.

Personally, I would try to find out what those limits are, and stay under the amount. For your own peace of mind, a flammables containment locker would be something you could look into.

The fire department is trained to know (or should be) approximately what they will be dealing with with a small residential shop. My fear would be, they arrive and see the signs, they may decide to not even approach and let it burn! Or call for the industrial/hazardous team, which could take longer to arrive.

Could turn into a loose can of worms!
 
It seams to me that any intelligent firefighter who is fighting a garage fire would be smart enough to realize that normal flammables from gas for mowers to LP tanks would be stored in a garage.
In rural areas where there are farm and auto shops acetylene and oxygen tanks would be a given,
You may be correct in your thoughts living on the Left coast. Not too much common sense solutions there.
Loren
 
(quoted from post at 15:05:01 03/13/19) Unfortunately, with rural shops, the dangers would be long passed by the time the responders got there.

in-too-deep, thems fightin' words!
 
I've been on our local volunteer dept for years. One of our favorite things is to get invited for a little tour of some of the bigger operators' shops and farm steads. Of course a couple cases of our favorite beverage boosts attendance. But we always remember something and it has paid off well over the years. And it goes in the report as training outreach hours which look good to the state.
 
I didn't mean anything negative. I'm sorry if it came across like that. Just a fact about living where
everything is so dang far apart.
 
I had a shop about 50 yards from the city fire department.they were happy to do a walk through. I had a chemical smell that I couldn?t identify, almost a wiring smell, I walked over and they came over and brought the infrared camara. We looked around for 20 minutes and found nothing but they were glad to know what was in their backyard.
 
we are quite aware of what may be inside certain buildings and shops, always expect the unexpected.We responded last year to an apartment fire--what we had was a barbecue with the tank on fire in the living room! At industrial structures we are extra vigilant.
 
I think you should have all significant petroleum containers in an out building that you don't heat. We have a small shed separate from shop/garage, and that is where all where all gas is stored. One of my friends has a metal lockable cabinet on the shady side outside of his garage where he stores gas.
 
That's another reason to practice safety first! A friend of mine died because he was using a torch with an aerosol can nearby. It blew and burned him pretty bad, he got the fire out, but died as results of his burns, like many burn victims do. He was a great John Deere mechanic, I worked with him one season. He was retired and working in his home shop when the accident happened.
 
(quoted from post at 00:09:54 03/14/19) I didn't mean anything negative. I'm sorry if it came across like that. Just a fact about living where
everything is so dang far apart.

You have nothing to apologize for.
 
(quoted from post at 06:09:54 03/14/19) What about ammunition? How much of a concern is it for firefighters I always wondered?

If you're more than a few feet away, loose cartridges going off don't pose much of a threat. With no barrel to contain the pressure and accelerate the bullet, the energy just goes in all directions and very little is imparted on the bullet.
 

Contact your local fire dept and ask if they want to do a preplan walk thru of your buildings.
They will make a sketch of the building and note the locations of where you normally keep flammable liquids, torches, gun safes, ammo or anything else they may need to take extra precautions about.
These preplans are normally keep in binders edified by the address, should they be called to that location they can check in the binder and have a better idea of what to expect before they arrive on scene.

A few years ago we responded to a garage fire, the first to arrive on scene got there just as the acetylene bottle exploded thru the garage wall and bounced off the roof of a house 50 ft away, it landed in the front yard about 25 ft of the fire truck.
 
On one sign blank I have diamonds for Oxy / acet . Argon and CO. Not fair to the firemen not to have them .They gotta know this. More important I have a 20 lb. fire extinguisher. I had a picture of my sign but cant find it. Sign is mounted on shop door.
 

When I operated my distribution business the manufacturers provided me with MSD sheets on all of the products. I was responsible for passing them on to the local Fire Dept. of which I was and am a member. When a Fire Department is responding to a fire and hazmat placards are on the side of the truck or by the door of a structure they will stop at a distance and look the NUMBER on the placard up in their guidebook. Pretty much every first due engine in the country carries binoculars so that the number can be read from a distance. If there is no number or the placard appears home made, most likely they will stay at a safe distance. It is best to get the guide book and research your own hazardous materials, determine the threshold quantity and then buy your placards from Keller and post them if your quantities on hand exceed the threshold.
 
It's part of the certification process here in Michigan to have a fire pre-plan, posted well away from buildings- often on the farm sign out front. Tells responders what is where.
 
(quoted from post at 13:11:32 03/15/19) It's part of the certification process here in Michigan to have a fire pre-plan, posted well away from buildings- often on the farm sign out front. Tells responders what is where.

K Effective, what certification is that and whose preplan is posted.
 

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