Lucky..... Lucky.....Lucky is all I can say!!

[snicko]

On Saturday night we had a BBQ.

After Hubby finished cooking a couple of the men hooked up the Patio Heater.

A couple of us could smell gas and no sooner in saying that the top of the heater burst into flames then went down to the gas bottle and it burst into flames as well!!

As the gas bottle is inside the heater we could not get to it to turn it off.

We all scampered inside but as I didn't know much about burning gas bottles and we were only standing behind glass, I told everyone to go out to the front verandah where we would be safe if it exploded.

One of the firefighters lives up the top of our street and lucky for us because on his way to the call out he saw the orange glow in the back yard and knew where the fire was so he stopped.

As he knew what to do he stopped it from getting out of control. ( By this time the gas hose had burnt and the gas was rushing out.)

Being Gas it just has to burn and it felt like forever when it's your house under threat but I think it burnt for 15-20mins.

The bottle was screwed up tight so we think it was something faulty with the heater!!
The scary part is we have used the heater lots of times.

Damage only being the gas bottle, heater, a chair, a table and the lazer lite on the pergola.

LUCKY..........LUCKY..............LUCKY !!!

FIRE TRUCKS TURNED UP
http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m481/snicko1/FIRE/IMG_0434sizedx3.jpg

POLICE BLOCKED OFF THE ROAD
http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m481/snicko1/FIRE/IMG_0435sizedx3.jpg

FIRE FIGHTER PUTTING WATER ON THE GAS BOTTLE TO KEEP IT COOL
http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m481/snicko1/FIRE/IMG_0414sizedx3.jpg

NEED TO TAKE IT BACK TO SWAP AND GO AND GET A FULL ONE!!!
http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m481/snicko1/FIRE/P1030767sizedx3.jpg

http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m481/snicko1/FIRE/P1030765sizedx3.jpg

MELTED CHAIR, EDGE OF TABLE AND STUFFED HEATER AND BOTTLE
http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m481/snicko1/FIRE/P1030785sizedx3.jpg

[YNOT]

Wow, you're very lucky that didn't end very badly.

Tony

[belzi82]

I am glad that you are okay. It must have been scary.
Was it a new gas bottle or one you swapped???

[GUtsy ute]

Good to see a safe outcome to it all!
Thanks for sharing this with us Snicko, I'll be checking the BBQ before I light it again!

[frenzy]

wow x 2. thanks for sharing. lucky indeed.

did the firies tell you what went wrong?

[snicko]

Wow, you're very lucky that didn't end very badly.

Tony

You are not wrong. I still feel sick if I really think about what could have happened.

[snicko]

I am glad that you are okay. It must have been scary.
Was it a new gas bottle or one you swapped???

It was very scary.
The bottle was a swap and go one but we had used it for 2 BBQ's before the heater.

[snicko]

wow x 2. thanks for sharing. lucky indeed.

did the firies tell you what went wrong?

No the firies were just glad to stop it getting out of control.

If it have been the whole house that went up then I'm sure there would have been testing done.

[belzi82]

It was very scary.
The bottle was a swap and go one but we had used it for 2 BBQ's before the heater.

that is weird then. I am glad that you, your family, friends and house are all okay tho

[nowoolies]

very lucky for you guys
we are glad it had a happy ending

[growler2058]

Bloody hell Snicko coulda been so much worse, good idea to get away from the window, I'm not a plumber but one once told me gas explodes to 150 times itrs compressed size so quite a fire ball if it let go.

[snicko]

Good to see a safe outcome to it all!
Thanks for sharing this with us Snicko, I'll be checking the BBQ before I light it again!

Thanks Gutsy. My thread might save someone else going through what we did. (don't recommend it!!)

[snicko]

Bloody hell Snicko coulda been so much worse, good idea to get away from the window, I'm not a plumber but one once told me gas explodes to 150 times itrs compressed size so quite a fire ball if it let go.

I think I'm going to be sick!! Glad I didn't know that on Sat night!!

[Clunk]

wow wow wow, could have been a nasty thing there Snicko, glad no major damage was done and everyone is safe and well................... I'll be tightening up all me bits n pieces now. Cheers for the timely reminder, as I reckon we all get a little complacent with these things.............. I wonder if it more likely to be a faulty regulator on the heater rather than a faulty bottle. Shame the fireies couldn't say

[snicko]

wow wow wow, could have been a nasty thing there Snicko, glad no major damage was done and everyone is safe and well................... I'll be tightening up all me bits n pieces now. Cheers for the timely reminder, as I reckon we all get a little complacent with these things.............. I wonder if it more likely to be a faulty regulator on the heater rather than a faulty bottle. Shame the fireies couldn't say

We think that it was the regulator as the bottle was screwed up tight and clean inside the thread and the rubber thingy was still there not burnt!!

[YNOT]

Bloody hell Snicko coulda been so much worse, good idea to get away from the window, I'm not a plumber but one once told me gas explodes to 150 times itrs compressed size so quite a fire ball if it let go.

Actually I think it's more like 270x when it changes state from a liquid to a vapour, but it won't ignite at that point as it's too rich. LPG won't ignite until about 13:1 air fuel ratio. So 1 litre of liquid LPG becomes 270 litres of LPG vapour, x13 = 3510 litres of BANG. A full 9 kg gas bottle holds 18 litres of LPG...............I'll let you work that out!

Tony

[snicko]

Actually I think it's more like 230x when it changes state from a liquid to a vapour, but it won't ignite at that point as it's too rich. LPG won't ignite until about 13:1 air fuel ratio. So 1 litre of liquid LPG becomes 230 litres of LPG vapour, x13 = 2990 litres of BANG.

Tony

Thanks Tony I feel so much better.....not!! hahahahahahaha

Maybe that's why they did a sweep of the house with a gas detector before we were allowed to go back inside.

[Clunk]

Actually I think it's more like 270x when it changes state from a liquid to a vapour, but it won't ignite at that point as it's too rich. LPG won't ignite until about 13:1 air fuel ratio. So 1 litre of liquid LPG becomes 270 litres of LPG vapour, x13 = 3510 litres of BANG. A full 9 kg gas bottle holds 18 litres of LPG...............I'll let you work that out!

Tony
I'm not gonna work it out, all I know s that it'll be a bloody big kaaaabooooom

[Clunk]

We think that it was the regulator as the bottle was screwed up tight and clean inside the thread and the rubber thingy was still there not burnt!!

how long have you had the heater for?

[YNOT]

Thanks Tony I feel so much better.....not!! hahahahahahaha

Maybe that's why they did a sweep of the house with a gas detector before we were allowed to go back inside.

Makes you think doesn't it. I was wrong about the expansion rate of LPG, it's 270x not 230x!!!

[nowoolies]

Makes you think doesn't it. I was wrong about the expansion rate of LPG, it's 270x not 230x!!!

strewth thats a big bang.......KAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA:blowup:

[YNOT]

I'm not gonna work it out, all I know s that it'll be a bloody big kaaaabooooom

Where's the kaboom, there was supposed to be an earth shattering kaboom?

Tony

[snicko]

how long have you had the heater for?

Bought it in 2009

[Clunk]

Where's the kaboom, there was supposed to be an earth shattering kaboom?

Tony

hahahahahahahaha I love Marvin the Martian.................... I take it you're not getting too much sleep at the mo then???????

apologies for the hi-jack Snicko

[Clunk]

Bought it in 2009

I was just wondering if something could be done in regards to warranty issues and all that!!!!!!!????

[YNOT]

hahahahahahahaha I love Marvin the Martian.................... I take it you're not getting too much sleep at the mo then???????

apologies for the hi-jack Snicko

Heading off to bed now.

Sorry Snicko...............

Tony

[patch697]

Im very glad to hear one on was hurt snicko although theirs no accounting for the fear & total terror factor is there.

Glad you, your Family & friends, & your house are all relatively OK.

[snicko]

I was just wondering if something could be done in regards to warranty issues and all that!!!!!!!????

I went back to where we bought it to get prices for the insurance company and they didn't say anything about warranty and I really didn't think to ask either!

[snicko]

Im very glad to hear one on was hurt snicko although theirs no accounting for the fear & total terror factor is there.

Glad you, your Family & friends, & your house are all relatively OK.

Thanks.
You are right about the terror factor.
The worst thing was not being able to do anything and not knowing whether at any moment the pergola was going up in flames then.............(shudder!!)
Or it was going to go bang!

[Clunk]

I went back to where we bought it to get prices for the insurance company and they didn't say anything about warranty and I really didn't think to ask either!

It was just a thought............... because if it was down to a faulty regulator that came with the heater, then you could have a case but I guess it would be down to warranty periods and maybe servicing etc etc......... again I'm not a plumber or gas tech, so I couldnt say for sure but could be something worth looking at.

Hopefully someone will be able to shed some light on the subject

[patch697]

Thanks.
You are right about the terror factor.
The worst thing was not being able to do anything and not knowing whether at any moment the pergola was going up in flames then.............(shudder!!)
Or it was going to go bang!

By the sounds of it you did everything you could & all the right things too which is probably why no one was hurt & you still have a house.

Out of a potential disaster you have had the best possible outcome, largely responsible to some very quick thinking I'd say.

So when your hashing over it in your mind (as I know you will) Don't think about what might of happened, think about what did & how everyone is safe due to some fast actions & then pat yourself on the back for not just standing there sh1tting yourself while you watch your house burn down right in front of your eyes.


Thats pretty damn special I think.

[AB]

Shame Snicko, that would of being quite scary. nothing worse then a gas bottle on fire!!!

on a lighter note, I would rock back to the servo with the bottle for another swap and go and bring that bottle in and act real casual like nothing has happened and see what the clerk says...lol

[snicko]

By the sounds of it you did everything you could & all the right things too which is probably why no one was hurt & you still have a house.

Out of a potential disaster you have had the best possible outcome, largely responsible to some very quick thinking I'd say.

So when your hashing over it in your mind (as I know you will) Don't think about what might of happened, think about what did & how everyone is safe due to some fast actions & then pat yourself on the back for not just standing there sh1tting yourself while you watch your house burn down right in front of your eyes.


Thats pretty damn special I think.

You are right. The right decisions were being made and we did had luck on our side as well.

Looking back there is nothing that happened that we could say was not done or done wrong.
I even went over and evacuated the neighbour who came and stood on our verandah as well !! hahaha
The rest of the neighbours family had gone in the car and one of our friends stood in their drive way to stop them from going down next to the fire when they came home.

The kids were put in the car with the dog and one of the women stayed with them.

I have never rung 000 before and once I did that (to me) it became a real emergency.

When it was all over the kids were very excited because they had something to tell at school!!!

[snicko]

Shame Snicko, that would of being quite scary. nothing worse then a gas bottle on fire!!!

on a lighter note, I would rock back to the servo with the bottle for another swap and go and bring that bottle in and act real casual like nothing has happened and see what the clerk says...lol

Hahahahahhahahaha
One of our friends who was there is part owner of a servo and lots of jokes were make about taking it back.
When the insurance is sorted we are going to take it back and ask for another one!! hahahahahaha

[macca]

By the sounds of it you did everything you could & all the right things too which is probably why no one was hurt & you still have a house.

Out of a potential disaster you have had the best possible outcome, largely responsible to some very quick thinking I'd say.

So when your hashing over it in your mind (as I know you will) Don't think about what might of happened, think about what did & how everyone is safe due to some fast actions & then pat yourself on the back for not just standing there sh1tting yourself while you watch your house burn down right in front of your eyes.


Thats pretty damn special I think.

x2 damn special

[Warnie]

Very lucky, glad to hear things are ok and everyone is safe, thats the main thing

[snicko]

Well done snicko for your considered actions in a pressure situation. Patch is right you should be proud of your actions that potentially saved a lot.

And thanks for bringing this to the front of my mind again. I had a barby on Saturday and after we'd finished cooking one of my guests could smell gas. I just turned the bottle off so I'll definately go and check all the fittings again (should have done this on Saturday eh?)

If my posting helps you from having the same thing happen then its all worth it.

[Woof]

Very scary stuff there Snicko, so glad that no one was injured................been putting off getting a Gas Fuse for my BBQ for years, not now, will be getting one next week for sure.

[Yendor]

Snicko that would have been a very frighting event to experience.

I 'm so glad that no one was hurt or property was damaged.

Thank you for sharing.

[NissanGQ4.2]

Very lucky indeed Snicko, glad 2 hear no one was hurt and very minimal damage was done, that could of easily turned into a disaster.

[Finly Owner]

Thank God all turned out well SNICKO!

Well dome to all of those who acted so rationally.

Can I please say now to all who read this, that if this happens to you, remember if a gas hose burns, gas continues to escape fromt the bottle and burn (as stated here). If you keep the bottle cool with water(as the fireman did) and allow the gas to burn out, you will remove the risk of explosion.

Bottles explode when the heat expands the gas in a bottle at a greater speed than it can escape and burn.

In saying all this, it hard to beleive keeping a bottle cool with water is safe, when life teaches us that gas bottles explode.


You did all the right things Snicko.



Tim

[wildgu6]

WOW where have i been, very lucky there Snicko, bet the heart was racing.... Glad to hear no-one got injured and the firies where on the ball...Good neighbour too have around.

Thanks Tim as well for that safety tip...Good work

P.S nice pics to Snicko, especially like the 3rd, Safety first over the fence....Good thinkin

[snicko]

WOW where have i been, very lucky there Snicko, bet the heart was racing.... Glad to hear no-one got injured and the firies where on the ball...Good neighbour too have around.

Thanks Tim as well for that safety tip...Good work

P.S nice pics to Snicko, especially like the 3rd, Safety first over the fence....Good thinkin

Just had to get some pics to put on the forum!!!

All were taken from one of our friends mobile phone. (Going inside to get mine was way out of the question!!)