House Fire with Ammo

[glockman19]

Nice Video.

Ammo is fine...It's the reloading components that are of more concern to me...1-8lb. of any gun powder and primers are sure to ruin your day...any your neighbor's

Mythbusters also did this.

[VictorFranko]

A few years ago I was awakened by a weird "popping" sound outside.
I couldn't figure out what the heck it was.
I went out into the backyard and saw an orange glow in the sky two streets over, behind my house, and the "popping" was coming from there.
I walked over to see the fire department waiting on the corner for the ammunition to stop cooking off.
The guy had a lot of ammo in his garage, and it was going to town!
Lots of extra damage to the house and vehicles in the driveway while the fire department sat and did nothing.

[EL_NinO619]

Nice Video.

Ammo is fine...It's the reloading components that are of more concern to me...1-8lb. of any gun powder and primers are sure to ruin your day...any your neighbor's

Not necessarily true, Gasoline and other household chemicals are just as dangerous if not more dangerous. A can of Hairspray or other arousal can near a stove could be much more trouble..

Reloading components are very stable when handled with the same respect as any other potentially hazardous material..

[chim-chim7]

The gallon of gas in your garage for the mower is much worse than any ammo, smokless powder, or primers. The biggest problem is once the fire dept hears the first round cook off kiss your house goodby. They will back way off and let it burn. Hope you have good insurance. I own thousands of rounds, my house is done in a fire. I take precautions to make sure my house doesn't burn, but sometimes you cant prevent everything. Like your neighbors house on fire buring yours next.

[Sub95]

propane tanks has a saftey valve that will pop before the tank blows up. the O2 tanks is another story. just like the mother bottle of Nitrous (100lbs) i have in my garage.

[Sub95]

The gallon of gas in your garage for the mower is much worse than any ammo, smokless powder, or primers. The biggest problem is once the fire dept hears the first round cook off kiss your house goodby. They will back way off and let it burn. Hope you have good insurance. I own thousands of rounds, my house is done in a fire. I take precautions to make sure my house doesn't burn, but sometimes you cant prevent everything. Like your neighbors house on fire buring yours next.

if my house catches fire i want it to burn to the ground, not half burnt with alot of smoke damage.

[Maltese Falcon]

This happened in Glendale last year, news report indicated the firefighters fought the fire from the outside only because of the ammo popping and the fire has already spread.

http://www.glendalenewspress.com/news/tn-gnp-0610-fire,0,2690096.story

Here is another story where the homeowner denies owning any ammo.

http://www.glendalenewspress.com/news/tn-gnp-0706-fire,0,5114934.story

.

[chim-chim7]

Gun powder FUD is just that. Primers and powder going off wont explode or some other catastrophe happen. They will just burn along with everything else. Make some noise but that's about it. Black powder could explod if it was contained in such a way that it could not vent. Would still be hard to do. Gasoline and aerosol cans are much more dangerous.

[glockman19]

Not necessarily true, Gasoline and other household chemicals are just as dangerous if not more dangerous. A can of Hairspray or other arousal can near a stove could be much more trouble..

Reloading components are very stable when handled with the same respect as any other potentially hazardous material..

I agree with you 100%...

I was involved in a movie shoot when the Beauty supply store next door caught on fire...It was a great show...Exploding aerosol cans are amazing I have some colorful pictures somewhere.

[TimRB]

A can of Hairspray or other arousal can near a stove could be much more trouble..

Quite true--arousal near a stove can be dangerous, indeed.

Tim

[XDRoX]

What you really have to worry about that a lot of people forget about are loaded firearms in safes or just laying around with one in the chamber.

For example, a revolver in a cheap nightstand safe or in a drawer may fire a projectile in a fire.

[Lex]

Knowing few thousand rounds being burn inside the house I am sure the fire fighters will evacuates the neighbors few blocks away. I surely don't want to be around.

[chim-chim7]

Why? Don't like the sound of firecrackers?

[Turo]

Knowing few thousand rounds being burn inside the house I am sure the fire fighters will evacuates the neighbors few blocks away. I surely don't want to be around.

Did you read the responses in this thread? Ammunition in a fire poses almost no threat to bystanders, and even less so when it is inside of a house.

Ammunition needs to be in an enclosed chamber with the bullet end the only one that is open to actually generate the velocity needed to cause serious damage.

In a house fire, your couple thousand rounds of ammo will make some popping sounds while it burns and nothing else.

[Scout2Diesel]

A friend gave me a big mixed box of salvaged ammo from a garage/house fire. Lots of blackend cartidges which did not even cook off. Must have been a lot of ammo because there were some unusual calibers. The safes were totaled.

Now go check your Clothes Dryer Vent!