Why does linseed oil combust

A family had finished coating a floor with Watco and gone to bed after placing the rags they had used in a trashcan. Three members of the family died in the fire that resulted.

Another case with Watco occurred in a woodworking shop several doors down the street from mine. A friend had been using steel wool soaked with Watco to finish a project. He left the steel wool on his workbench and several hours later it started smoking. That got his attention. Another case I knew of happened in California. In order to comply with the stricter VOC laws there, Minwax had started replacing some of the solvent in their stains with linseed oil.

My friend had used Minwax stain for years and typically just threw the rags into the trash. Linseed oil-soaked combustibles need to be treated with a great deal of respect. When the manufacturers tell customers to store the residues according to their instructions they really, really mean it.

Back when I was a teenager I used to polish my. I was lucky. As an aside, I have just recently demolished a cottage in which the interior pine planks had been treated with what must have been unboiled linseed oil back in the s.

The stuff was still not cured in places in the s. Thank God for modern chemistry! I placed oil-soaked rags in a paper bag to throw out later and went to lunch. About an hour and a half later when I returned to check the finish, I noticed a very strong smell and found was the bag with a dark brown discoloration.

As I picked up the bag it burst into flames. I was lucky I returned when I did or the workshop may have had serious damage. I threw the bag out the door on ground and watched it burn quite fiercely with heavy black smoke from oil I surmise. We used boiled linseed oil on our woodwork and forgot the rags on our kitchen countertop and left for a hockey game. When we got home, we smelled and saw smoke Minutes later, we found the smoldered pile of linseed oil rags on our kitchen counter.

It had burned a hole about 9" in diameter into our Formica countertop, inches from a pile of newspaper. We were very lucky our house didn't burn down. I was returning to Denver from Salida, CO. When I finished wiping the deck of excess linseed oil, I chucked the three towels in the back of my pickup and headed for Denver. Note that two of the towels were from two weeks prior wipings of excess linseed oil and one from that day's final treatment.

While driving down the highway I noticed smoke coming from the back of the truck. The investigation showed workers left linseed oil-soaked rags in a vacant office. Two hours into our experiment, we spotted smoke. The pile we left outside smoldered first, and then built quickly. Smoke curled from the rags indoors soon after.

This historic Albuquerque theater and saloon went up in flames after a wooden bar was refinished with linseed oil. Workers at a neighboring business that was damaged made up T-shirts and posted a YouTube video in protest. Three hours and 10 minutes into our experiment, suddenly flames burst from the rag.

All without outside. Linseed oil in the can is fine. Just keep it away from heat and flames. The reason linseed oil doesn't catch fire when you use it on wood is that it is spread out, so it doesn't heat up. Please visit our home safety visits page for more information on how you can carry out your own home safety check or how you can arrange for one of our home safety check visits.

A helpful video has been provided by our colleagues at Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service on how to stay safe whilst cooking. Non Necessary cookies to view the content. The most common cause of fire death in the home is smoking. If you or someone in your home smokes, there are a number of simple steps you can take to prevent a fire from happening in your home:. There have been a number of incidents in the UK caused by e-cigarettes or their chargers. To help reduce the risk, follow these safety tips:.

For some handy tips, watch the following short video courtesy of Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service :. An extension lead or adaptor will have a limit to how many amps it can take, so be careful not to overload them to reduce the risk of a fire, try and keep to one plug per socket. Appliances use different amounts of power — a television may use a 3 Amp plug and a vacuum cleaner a 5 Amp plug for example.

To check if your plug sockets are overloaded use the handy socket calculator. Please continue to check this page for any updates relating to upcoming recruitment opportunities.

This can cause an electrical fire. Never take the batteries out when it goes off by accident, you might forget to put them back in. Fires on boats have killed 30 boaters in the last 20 years. Most fires are preventable; follow our tips and advice on how to protect your boat and crew from fire, and what to do should a fire break out.

The video below is courtesy of Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service:. Visit our home fire safety page for advice on how to check your home. We have a checklist available to download and you will also find how to apply for a visit should you need more help.

During the school holidays, and in particular in hot weather, an increasing number of children put themselves at risk of drowning. Spot the dangers! Water may look safe, but it can be dangerous. Learn to spot and keep away from dangers. You may swim well in a warm indoor pool, but that does not mean that you will be able to swim in cold water. Please refer to the National Water Safety Signs to help you keep safe near open water.

For further information and advice on what you should do if you do get into trouble in open water or falling through ice, please visit the sites below:. Unfortunately, the very features that provide this fast response can also produce unwanted signals arising from activities other than a real fire. These can prove both costly both to the Fire Service, by initiating unnecessary turnouts of fire appliances and to the building operator. Evacuation of a building as a result of a false alarm signal can result in loss of production and general disruption of normal business activities.

Visit our Unwanted Fire Signals page for more details on our unwanted fire signal reduction policy. Compliance with the simple rules below will help to release the fire service for more essential duties. They may also help to save you from the permanent loss of business so frequently associated with a major fire. The safety of your building and its occupants can be greatly enhanced by the installation of an Automatic Fire Detection and Alarm System.

If properly used and maintained, the automatic system can be a significant factor in reducing the risk to life, and the limiting of damage to your property.

Enforcement action varies from educating and informing, notification of defects to be rectified, agreeing an action plan, an enforcement notice, an alterations notice, a prohibition notice or possible prosecution.

If you have made your assessment but we think you need to take further action, we will discuss this with you and highlight specific areas of concern. See the Public Register of Enforcement Action. As part of this role we visit a number of premises to carry out a risk based inspection program. If your premises are selected for a visit you will be required to present a fire risk assessment and emergency plan to one of our Fire Protection Officers FPO s and explain the contents.

If, when we visit, you have not completed a fire risk assessment you may have committed an offence under the Regulatory Reform Fire Safety Order which may lead to enforcement action being taken. Make sure you carry out a continuous fire risk assessment of your building ensuring the following points are followed:.

You will need to appoint a specialist to carry out the risk assessment for you. Such a specialist must identify the fire safety measures that need to be in place.

You should maintain close involvement in the process. The Fire Risk Assessment Competency Council have produced a document Guidance Choosing a Competent Fire Risk Assessor for information on how to select an appropriate person or organisation to carry out the risk assessment on your behalf. Unsafe gas appliances produce a highly poisonous gas called carbon monoxide CO. It can cause death as well as serious long-term health problems such as brain damage.

Common symptoms include headaches, nausea, breathlessness, collapse, dizziness and loss of consciousness. Carbon monoxide symptoms are similar to flu, food poisoning, viral infections and simply tiredness.

If you have a faulty appliance in your home, it could lead to carbon monoxide poisoning. Get it checked as soon as possible by a Gas Safe registered engineer. For further information and to find a register of qualified gas engineers, please go to the Gas Safe website.

It it is difficult for you to fit smoke alarms yourself, ask a friend or family member to help you. If you are a tenant and rent your property, your landlord or housing provider have a legal responsibility to ensure you have working alarms at the start of your tenancy. For more information, please read the information within the fire safety in shared or rented accommodation guidance leaflet Gov. Strobe lighting and vibrating pad alarms are available for those who are deaf or hard of hearing.

It may be useful to consider if other types of alerters would also be helpful in daily living. Alerters can often be linked to one system rather than needing lots of different pieces of equipment. If you store large amounts of possessions in and around your home, it means that a fire has a greater risk of spreading, and it may be more difficult to escape quickly. You can help keep yourself safe from fire by ensuring you have a fire escape plan see next section.

If you feel that you need some help or assistance with the above, there are many organisations that will support you through the process free of charge. For details, go to the Help for Hoarders website where you can also download a helpful tips leaflet provided by the London Fire Brigade.

You are more at risk from a fire when asleep. To help you do this, watch the following short video courtesy of Norfolk Fire and Rescue Service which will highlight the risks in your home room by room and give you some advice on how to make it safer: Home safety video. If you have children why not make it fun and get them to help you spot the risks so that they develop an understanding about fire safety.

Drink driving, speeding, not wearing a seatbelt and using a mobile phone while at the wheel are the four primary causes of fatal and serious injury collisions in the UK. In Northamptonshire, the Fire Service assists the Safer Roads Team and Highways Team to carryout ongoing campaigns to tackle each of these four hazards. Here are some points to remember:.

Speeders can be fined up to per cent of their weekly income, rather than the current per cent. The increase in penalty points would mean an immediate ban for newly-qualified drivers who have a ceiling of six points for the first two years after passing the test.

The Green Cross Code may have been launched in the s, but it still holds some key messages for pedestrians when it comes to road safety. Weather patterns in the UK usually mean that extreme conditions such as ice, snow and heavy rain can happen suddenly and can often leave drivers unprepared for what they might face on the roads.

Many drivers may fail to realise the extent to which extreme weather can affect aspects of driving such as visibility and stopping distances. Stopping distances can double in wet conditions and can increase ten-fold in ice and snow. Add to this the fact that reactions to hazards become impaired when drivers cannot see clearly, and the results can be fatal. If possible, avoid driving in snow and other dangerous conditions such as fog, heavy rain and ice. Think about if there are any alternatives such as home-working arrangements; particularly if you live in a rural area.

Change the way you drive depending on the weather. The numbers of people choosing to cycle for fun, fitness or to get to work has increased by more than a quarter in twenty years and an incredible 3.

Bikeability Cycling is an effective sustainable mode of travel to school, however, all pupils cycling must be made aware of the need for safety and security when cycling.