Combustion
Anyone ever have a combustion fire? Nick was working in the shop last week and he had thrown away a staining sponge that he had used to apply wood conditioner to the bead board. It had been drying outside for a week so he figured it had completely dried. He and a friend put some sawdust in the same garbage can as the sponge and soon afterwards they smelled smoke. It had started a small fire in the garbage can, but luckily they were right there when it happened.
We've made sure to always have a fire extinguisher accessible in the shop and upstairs, but luckily we haven't had to use it.
So this week we're letting the sponge dry out for much longer & we may leave it out in theopen until we make a run to the dump. I've read the warnings numerous times about rags combusting, but never heard of it happening- I guess it really does! So if you ever feel like tossing that damp rag in the trash- don't! Thank goodness it wasn't any worse. I keep thinking of all that nice, old, dry wood we have stacked in the house. That combined with the 100 year old framing, our house would go up quickly. I hate to even think about it.