Proper Gasoline Storage

[NY_Yankees_Fan]

As a firefighter, when I think of any flammable liquid I think of BTU’s of heat, and how much water I will need to absorb the heat to put it out. Funny thing unless you use some type of foam, protein or AFFF, the flammable liquid fire will not go out, you just kinda spread it around and matters worse. As a fire inspector I look at flammable liquid a little different way. How much do I have, how is it stored, what are the sources of ignition, and what have they done to prevent a fire from getting real big real fast. So we look at the code since the code is based on fire losses and best practice of controlling a hazard. The NFPA codes are some 16 volumes and if you put them next to each other they would be almost 3 feet long! The code for flammable liquids alone is some 100 pages. To answer some of your questions, here are my thoughts:

I have the gasoline in a metal can, I am safe?

Containing the gasoline in a container that is designed for the hazard is the first step. Just because it is a metal can does not mean it will help you in a fire. Unless the pressure from the gasoline vapors can be released in a controlled manor and without igniting the entire container, it is not much better then a plastic container. That it why you want a can with a spring that holds down the lid, AND a flame arrestor. What does this do? As the can heats up during a fire and the gasoline expands the lid will give way to the pressure and open, letting the gasoline out safely. The flame arrester lets the gasoline burn but not enter the can to ignite the gasoline. Will the gas come out of the can ? YES but a little at a time NOT all at one time. So rule number one store your gasoline in a UL listed safety can.

But my car has a 20 gallon tank in my garage, what about that?

Yes this is very true and if your garage is involved in a fire, the gas tank will pose a real challenge to the fire department. I can not tell you how much fun it is to be on the end of a hose line, on your knees, when all of sudden the fire gets real hot real fast! BUT under normal conditions the gasoline is contained in a your tank, which is tight and will not permit gasoline vapors to escape. This is the key, no vapors no fire, no source of ignition no fire, that part is more difficult, because of so many sources of ignition.

I have 3-5 five gallon containers of gas in my shed, what is wrong with that?

Goes back to how much BTU’s will I have to deal with. The more fuel the bigger the fire, the more damage. Try to keep the amount of gasoline you have stored to a minimum. If you need to have more because you are a long distance from a gas station, then store it away from important buildings, in the shade and in a safety can.

Hope that helps

Tom

 

[dmccarty]

GoYankees,

Now that this thread really has me think'n. I don't keep gas cans in
the garage. I might have a little gas in the lawn mower, chainsaw,
blower, or cutter but no cans.

Instead I keep the cans in the bed box in my truck. What kind of
problem does this present? That box will get hot and I can
sometimes smell gas fumes when I open the top. Not that it makes
much difference but the most I would carry would be three gallons
but lately its only one. They are plastic cans and I don't know if
they are UL approved or not. I'll look and go get metal UL cans.
I stayed away from metal because of rust.....

Thoughts?

Thanks,
Dan McCarty

 

[phantom309]

Hi Tom-

Thanks for the informative note.

The thought of having a fire at our place is pretty scary.

No fire plugs. No fire department. Two wells, but both of mediocre output. The last big fire we had took out two homes in the area. We all fought it together - mostly with shovels and pump up sprayers. How many shovels full of dirt does it take to put out a gallon of flaming gasoline? /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

That's one thing that gets my goat this time of year (July 4).

It's illegal to shoot off fireworks in town. So everybody scoots out to the country.

But from a fire prevention point of view, the city folks are better prepared to handle a fire since they have fire plugs, firemen, and generally, there is less dry grass in the city than out in the country. I guess it boils down to there being fewer homeowners in the country to complain compared to town so we get stuck.

We've had fireworks start two fires in our pastures. Both times, the offending shooters hopped in their cars and hauled buns. /w3tcompact/icons/mad.gif

Also puzzling is how there have been times that due to the dry weather, the county has banned anybody from discharging fireworks ANYWHERE - even in the country.

But it's still fine for the fireworks stands to SELL the fireworks!!! 'Splain that, Lucy!

Mark

 

[NY_Yankees_Fan]

The metal bed box is like a flammable liquid cabinet, well sort of. The problem is if you can smell gasoline that means it is leaking out somewhere. If enough gets out, and fills the box with vapors, enough to leak out, it could find a source of ignition, and a a a well.... how much do you like your truck? To play it safe, get a metal UL safety can. Here is a web site to check out

http://www.omarksafety.com/category.cfm?acatid=91&goto=YES

This one has everything you need.

Justrite 5 Gallon Type I Safety Can

This FM and UL approved can safely stores and transfers flammable liquids. Features spring mounted cap/relief vent, flame arrestor and terne plate construction.

 

[NY_Yankees_Fan]

Mark,

I hope you have smoke detectors in all of your bedrooms, laundry room, boiler/furnace room, etc. and on each level of your home. The type of smoke detector you have is very important too. Most people have ionization type, cheap and are plentiful. BUT they do not work with ALL types of fires.

There are two basic types of smoke alarms:

Ionization - Ionization alarms contain radioactive material that ionizes the air, making an electrical path. When smoke enters, the smoke molecules attach themselves to the ions. The change in electric current flow triggers the alarm. The radioactive material is called americium. It's a radioactive metallic element produced by bombardment of plutonium with high-energy neutrons. The amount is very small and not harmful.

Photo-electric - These type of alarms contain a light source (usually a bulb) and a photocell, which is activated by light. Light from the bulb reflects off the smoke particles and is directed towards the photocell. The photocell then is activated to trigger the alarm.

The ionization alarm responds faster to small smoke particles, while the photoelectric responds faster to larger smoke particles. As a rule of the thumb, fast flaming fires produce smaller smoke particles and smoldering fires produce large particles. Thus the response time of the two alarms will vary, depending on the mixture of small and large particles from the fire.

Installing several smoke detectors of each type will provide better coverage in the extreme case of long-term smoldering or fast flaming fires.

The BEST type is a combination of ionization and photo electric detector. They sell them at Home Depot, for about $25. Look on the back of the package and if you see uses ionization AND photo electric, this is the one to buy. The detector will give you the best possible protection.

I assume you have several fire extinguishers in your house?

The other thing, now I will put my insurance hat on, is to make sure you have 100% replacement cost for your house AND contents. A lot of people have AVC, (actual cash value), which means the TV you bought 2 years ago for $500 is now worth $150. With 100% replacement cost, you would be paid $500. Makes a big difference if you do have a loss and have to replace everything. And if you rent, make sure you have rental insurance, to cover your contents.

Tom

 

[phantom309]

Thanks again Tom for the great advice. We do have three smoke detectors, but they're cheapies. I'll go to HomeDepot and upgrade. We also have four fire extinguishers, but they're now several years old. I have checked a few of them lately and the little meter is still in the green, but is it best to toss them out when they get a certain age?

I'll also make a note to check my isurance policy on the 100% replacement cost. I have to admit that I don't know what my policy is!

Thanks again Tom for the great info.

Mark

 

[dmccarty]

Tom,

THANKS!

The website had a one gallon can which is all I really need.
I need one can to run the Stihl gas/oil mix and another
for just gas. I have a two gallon and a one gallon "can"
in the truck. The two gallon holds raw gas and the one
holds the mix. I think the two gallon can is the one that
lets the gas vapor escape.

I'm going to get two of the one gallon cans.

Thanks Again!
Dan McCarty

 

[NY_Yankees_Fan]

If you still do not think this is a potential problem here are some stats from NFPA- National Fire Protection Association regarding the storage and use of gasoline in the home.

Gasoline was the type of material first ignited in an average of 5,800 home fires annually, between 1994 and 1998. These fires resulted in 115 civilian deaths, 590 civilian injuries, and $96.8 million in direct property damage per year.

Sixty-two percent of gasoline fires did not involve any equipment. Water heaters were the leading type of equipment that served as the source of ignition, accounting for 13 percent of the fires. ( A spilled or knocked over container can cause a problem with the vapors finding a source of ignition, a water heater, and starting a fire)

They break down the numbers, here is the info on fuel spills:

Fuel spilled or accidentally released # of fires700 ,Deaths 16, Injuries 106, Damage $13.5Million

So do these numbers push anyone who was on the fence,over the fence to storage of gasoline in a UL listed or FM approved METAL can?

 

[EddieWalker]

Tom,

Thanks for the great information.

One thing about the plastic containers I'm hearing alot about lately is static electricity.

Plastic is a huge no-no for storing gasoline due to its ability to store static electricity. Gasoline haulers are not allowed to have any sort of plastic containers on there trucks, like a bucket, when fueiling up.

Why are plastic gas cans legel? I have no idea, but I'm getting rid of mine.

 

[Bird]

Eddie, I think if you'll do a little checking, you'll find that static electricity can ignite gasoline regardless of whether you have a plastic can or a metal can, but that it happens more frequently with metal cans. At least that's the indication I've gotten from everything I've read. Go to google.com and enter "static electricity filling gas cans" and I think you'll find all you need to know. Ungrounded metal cans are the most dangerous.