Burn barrel got me, emergency hair cut!

[RSKY]

I sit here at 6:45 waiting to go to an 8:05 emergency haircut appointment I made yesterday afternoon. Well, I finally got the appointment made after the lady that cuts my hair stopped laughing. If you read my post from a little while ago about the vents in my new burn barrels and how well they burned you probably read that flames would come three or four feet out the top. You probably also read that a gust of wind would make the flames go much higher.

The wind was very gusty yesterday.

The wind changed direction whipping around the house yesterday.

The wind caused flames to singe my eyebrows, mustache, beard, and hair on the left side of my face.

I didn't realize what had happened and thought the burned hair smell was coming from the barrel. It was coming from the burnt hair in my nostrils!

My two very funny sisters spotted what had happened and had me believing half the hair was gone from the left side of my head.

Other than that, it was a good day.

RSKY

 

[Oaktree]

Why would you burn on a windy day?

 

[ruffdog]

What.....no pictures?

 

[Alan W.]

This definitely calls for before and after pics.
Your amongst friends I promise no one will laugh
Glad it wasnt worse.

 

[ruffdog]

When I was a kid, my dad decided to burn some maggots that were in the burn barrel. The barrel was not very full so he had to bend way over to light the gasoline he had squirted in there. BOOM. He was lifted off the ground and landed running the other way. He looked funny with no eye lashes or brows. He was always teaching me what NOT to do.

 

[jaxs]

Had you went on as usual without getting a haircut,strangers wouldn't have given you a secound thought. I see things that people do to their hair intentionally that look's worse.

 

[cqaigy2]

My dad threw some saw dust in the burn barrel. Apparently, it was still smoldering, and woosh!

 

[Thomas]

OUCH...
Neighbor cleaning up dry sawdust than bent forward threw large amount sawdust in woodstove yup hair and beard was shorten alot.

 

[jaydee325]

Reminds me now of a funny story (not funny then!)

I'm out in the yard. My son, then 8 comes running up and says, "dad the forest is on fire". I say, "what are you talking about son"? He says, "behind the garage". I look up in that direction and I see smoke (not good).

I run around the garage and see the entire side of the ravine behind the garage in flames! I run back and grab the garden hose and about half way out, yep, too short! Turn around and run for the house where I dial 911.

The 911 dispatcher tells me to go down to the end of the driveway to flag the fire trucks, which I did. I still remember, after (about 40 years now) hearing the sirens in the distance and getting louder as they approached my house.

It was only a few minutes until the fire fighters had the flames knocked down. Fortunately, no real property damage.

When the fire chief rolled up, he walked out back and looked around, especially at my burn barrel. He comes back and says, "did you have a fire in the burn barrel"? I says yes. Now, the back story is I had the burn barrel roaring with cardboard, and had overloaded the barrel, so some fell out and started the grass on fire which spread. The fire chief asked "did you have a screen on the barrel". I answered honestly that I had not. I then asked if he would be giving me a ticket. He asked, "have you learned a lesson"? To which I replied, "yes I have". He climbed into his truck and left and that was it!!

 

[RSKY]

Why would you burn on a windy day?

Because we had already filled two LARGE trash cans and had six yard size trash bags more to get rid of. Ground was wet, still some snow and ice around house. Barrel was burning everything up about as fast as I could dump it in.

RSKY

 

[RSKY]

Hair appointment, yes I go to a women's salon, was for 8:05 or, "just as soon as I can get there after dropping daughter at school". She didn't laugh that much, said she had seen worse, but the smell after she washed my hair was bad for both of us. She trimmed hair and beard and mustache and didn't want to charge me anything. Girl has cut my hair for nearly twenty-five years. I gave her $20. Heck, she has a sophomore in high school and another sophomore in college.

After I got home I could still smell burned hair. Had to get my 'battery powered nostril hair trimmer' out and do some trimming in there.

RSKY

 

[Cougsfan]

Burn barrels in Washington State are illegal State wide. I miss having one but I understand why they do it when you look at how the west coast has been slowly burning up every summer over the past decade. You can still burn a pile of stuff legally if the weather conditions permit. Your 'sposed to notify the local fire department in advance. Most people don't. Not a problem unless your fire gets away, then it can be a big problem.

 

[Torvy]

I cut my own hair, the whole clipper set was only $5 more than the tip you gave for your free cut. One of the best investments I ever made. If you make a mistake, just drop it down a notch and 'reset'.

 

[Wagtail]

I know that it's a wee bit late to tell you but, whenever I run my burn-barrel, or a burn pyre... or defend my property from a bushfire... I wear my old Navy Anti-Flash hood and gloves, + cotton clothes.

My neighbours comment that I look like an Ewok, but nothing gets singed by an unexpected gust.

 

[Yogi05]

I found out the hard way that the fumes from Brake Clean are very combustible.
Bunch of hair and beard gone. Burned toward the back so silly looking.
Count yourself lucky it was just hair.
In my experience those "flash" burns don't usually burn the skin too bad but I did have what felt like
a sunburn for a day or so.

 

[Dftodd]

Burn barrels in Washington State are illegal State wide. I miss having one but I understand why they do it when you look at how the west coast has been slowly burning up every summer over the past decade. You can still burn a pile of stuff legally if the weather conditions permit. Your 'sposed to notify the local fire department in advance. Most people don't. Not a problem unless your fire gets away, then it can be a big problem.

It's illegal here for household trash and hazardous materials. But yard waste is fine. You can burn pretty much anytime here within reason, unless a burn ban is on.

And they don't restrict how it's burned whether fire pit, burn barrel or pile.

Most folks here cut the bottom out of a barrel and drop it over a small stump. Then use yard waste to burn up the stump.

 

[jaxs]

A guy used solvent to clean his tie in the locker room then threw solvent in a toilet but failed to flush it. Another guy came in and sat on toilet,lite a smoke and dropped match between his legs as he probably done many times before. Whooossh. He thought it was the result of gas he had passed and noone told him different for fear of what he might do if he knew the facts.

 

[Dftodd]

A guy used solvent to clean his tie in the locker room then threw solvent in a toilet but failed to flush it. Another guy came in and sat on toilet,lite a smoke and dropped match between his legs as he probably done many times before. Whooossh. He thought it was the result of gas he had passed and noone told him different for fear of what he might do if he knew the facts.

A couple guys at a construction site kept getting into pretty heated arguments. One day we witnessed one of them go into a porta potty.

Just after the guy went in and got good and comfortable, the other guy goes running up there and drops an m80 down the vent pipe.

Dude got canned, but the results were pretty funny

The guy in the potty was a pretty big jerk and most of us thought he got what he deserved.

He came hobbling out the door as fast as he could, pants down around his ankles sporting a blue bottom

On another site, a brand new loader operator on his first day, swung around and clipped a porta potty. Knocked it over with the jobsite superintendent inside

Bout the only thing he was allowed to operate after that was a wheel barrow.

 

[BackRoad]

Helped my Granddad caretake some cottages for rich folks out of NYC. Close them in the fall, open them in the spring, whatever was needed.

He was down looking under the old gas hot water heater to light it...whoosh...pop...

Looked up at me with singed everything...eyebrows standing straight up... Looked like Doc Brown from Back to the Future!

Very memorable for an 8 year old!

 

[oosik]

I gave up the burn barrel years ago. Now I burn in a big open pit. I've learned to remove any/all lids from plastic bottles/containers. One went off like a bomb and I had to chase little fire bombs all over the place. Wasn't really that big a concern though - I only burn when there is snow on the ground or like now when everything is super wet and soggy.