Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with fire

My Cooker Wants To Kill Me

fruitopia — Sat, 04 May 2013 12:00:38 -0800

Why is my oven crackling and sparking at the on/off switch and will it start a fire in my wall? I have an electric oven that has a red on/off switch next to it on the wall. The switch has a white base (like light switches have). When I turn on the switch and then the oven, there is a crackling sound and sparks can be seen under the white base of the switch. Since it's the weekend and Monday is a bank holiday, I'm assuming the landlord will take until at least Tuesday to get someone in to look at it. Is it safe to use in the meantime, as long as I don't leave it on unattended, or am I just asking for electrocution/fire? Is it something that can be a DIY fix?

Resources for desiging a fitness room for our public safety building.

maleru — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 16:54:44 -0800

Can anyone recommend resources for designing a fitness room for a public safety building? Including: blueprints for room dimensions equipment recommendation anything else I can't think of? I have been tasked with developing a proposal for our city council as we move forward with the design of a new public safety building. This building would be a functioning Fire Department, Police Station, EMS, and 911 Dispatch.
Seeing as the building serves the needs of two different departments, we would need to account for physical fitness training for all responding Firefighters/Emergency First Responders and Police officers. The requirements I know of now include an area for takedown drills for the Police Department, enough space for up to 4 people to work out, various aerobic stations for the Fire Department, as well as upper body strength training.
I am not looking for a lot of single purpose machinery, we are working on a fitness program with a minimal fitness routine (pushups, pull-ups, sit-ups, squats, dips, etc.), would want basic free weights, a treadmill or two (or equivalent cardio trainer that is NOT a stationary bicycle).

More information, our city has been fighting funding this every step of the way! Our current fire department floods when it rains or snows, we don't have enough space to park our apparatus as it. In the winter we get months at a time with sub-freezing temperatures, with regular winds around 60mph.

If anyone has designed a space for this purpose, or works in a fire department with an adequate fitness room, PLEASE advise me. Thanks!

liability after apartment fire in NYC

gerryblog — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 17:52:01 -0800

The other night there was a fire in my friend's building in New York City; the fire was on the 10th floor, he lives on the 21st. He wasn't present while the fire happened, but there was smoke damage to his apartment, particularly to his clothes. My friend doesn't have renter's insurance. I have two related questions. The first is about cleaning -- what is the best plan of attack for cleaning his clothes? Is there a particularly laundry detergent or laundry strategy he ought to deploy? Is there a particular type of dry cleaner to which he should take his suits (and should he ask for some special treatment)?

The second question is about liability for his expenses. If his clothes can be cleaned, he expects that the total cost to him will only be a few hundred dollars, or less; if his clothes can't be cleaned and he has to buy new suits, it could cost him one or two thousand dollars. Given that he has no renter's insurance, is there any possibility that the building, or the person who started the fire, is responsible for his expenses under New York and New York City law? Complicating matters is the fact that he is actually subleasing his place from another party; is it possible that that person's insurance has some liability even if the building doesn't?

Of course I understand that none of you are his lawyer, but he wants a sense of whether this is worth pursuing at all.

Broken Screen, Broken Heart

Fairchild — Sun, 17 Feb 2013 12:03:31 -0800

Cracked screen on a Kindle Fire HD. Can it be repaired? I received a Kindle Fire HD for Christmas. I cracked the screen a few weeks ago. I dropped it once. It was fine and no damage. A couple weeks later I noticed a crack. It's fully functional but the crack is upsetting.

I don't think the purchaser bought a warranty. I went through Amazon Kindle Help pages and can't find repair services. I am willing to pay for repairs. Has anyone had their Kindle repaired? Is it possible? Thanks for any information.

Fire in oven element - can I still use burners?

madamjujujive — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 16:11:13 -0800

So I had a small fire in my oven... I was preheating my electric oven and when I opened the door, one of the elements popped, sparked and shot out an impressive flame ... I closed the door, turned it off and the flame died right down - the element stayed pretty red hot for a few minutes. I probably just need the heating element replaced and the overall oven checked - I contacted an appliance guy because I am not about to try fixing anything involving electricity, thank you. But due to my scheduling and his, he can't come fix it until Thursday or Friday. Meanwhile, I have overnight guests here starting tomorrow - is it safe to use the stove-top burners in the interim? New phobia in the making here: fear of leaving the room for more than 30 seconds when the oven is on -- so glad there was nothing in the oven that could have caught fire. Electricity, you scary.

Big party, Fire theme, lots of $$$

Jacen — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 20:40:00 -0800

Ok, so in a alt-history type world, roughly 1950s tech, how would you decorate for a big party with the theme of Fire? Big, formal party will be held at a mansion, big gardens, fountain, black marble floor in the main ballroom. No computers, yes airplanes, yes halfway decent movies. General societal attitude is Wild West/Gentlemanly lawlessness and Adventure! Budget is huge, like million dollar or more. I probably want to light the fountain on fire, and probably some sort of miniature torches in the ballroom; maybe some firefly (the insect, not the show :D) mood lighting in the garden, but what else?

Tiki torches are right out (too sissyfied). Tasteful things like luminaris would work for parts of the party, but i also want cool fire effects and, well, manliness (and Adventure!)

So, light this party on fire, hive mind!

How to recover from a house fire.

that's how you get ants — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 06:57:16 -0800

My in-laws' house burned down last night. What do they need right now? According to news reports, it's a "total loss," but the news reports also have lot of other incorrect details. My husband was there last night and said it looks like it might not be that bad, but still, I saw video and it was one of those giant orange blazes. Let's assume that they will be unable to access any of their possessions in the short term.

Several years ago my husband actually lost everything in an apartment fire and he works in property/casualty insurance so we are not completely overwhelmed. When his apartment burned down, my husband remembers it as an onslaught of tiny details that needed to be taken care of, like rerouting his mail, getting internet access at his temporary place, getting a phone charger, etc. What other little items or tasks do they need to remember?

We know from experience that they may need our money and our time, but probably not all of our old stuff. My husband is out now taking them to rent a car and get new cell phones, and I will be printing any pictures of the interior of their house to help them itemize their possessions. What other tasks can we do for them now?

Some possibly relevant details:
* The fire started in the garage, so I assume both of their cars are lost.
* They have at least some of their credit cards.
* They have 4 indoor/outdoor cats, and 2 were outside at the time of the fire. They haven't been seen, as far as I know. It is winter and snowy here.
* They stayed at a neighbor's house last night, and will probably be in a nearby extended stay hotel for a while, depending on what their insurance company says. We do not have room for them here. It's a two bedroom apartment with two adults, one toddler, and a newborn on his way in the next month.

Also, the question is mainly about the very short term, but feel free to offer any advice about the long term. Thank you.

How do I know if my gas fireplace has a blower?

The corpse in the library — Sun, 09 Dec 2012 11:42:36 -0800

Does my gas fireplace have a blower? I have a Lennox gas fireplace. There are two switches on the wall next to it. One starts the fire, the other... does what? How do I know if my fireplace has a blower, or if the switch does nothing?

There's no sound of anything clicking on, but can modern fireplace blowers be silent? I might notice some air being blown from it, or it might be my imagination.

The house was built in 2004-ish. The fireplace works well, and has been checked out and cleaned.

Fahrenheit 451 Salamander

boba — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 08:36:03 -0800

All the literature on the Salamander from Fahrenheit 451 has been burned. Where can I find more information about the Salamander that was built for the 1966 film? IMCDB indicates that the Salamander for the 1966 film was built for the movie. Are there any resources available with more information about the construction of it or what may have happened to it after the movie? Google has provided hours of reading on the book and the movie, but very little information about the vehicle itself. After spending some quality time searching through images of fire engines from the 1920's through the 1960's, I see the origin of various features but nothing that indicates it was based off an existing vehicle. Any helpful resources or information would be useful.

Firebox posters: Where?

Marky — Sun, 02 Dec 2012 22:44:46 -0800

Firebox posters: Where did I see them? I remember seeing pictures of art project a few weeks ago... somewhere. They were posters of fire call boxes, with pithy commentary shopped over the usage directions.

Did I imagine these? Where did I see them?

How do I fire someone?

Anonymous — Sat, 01 Dec 2012 06:52:53 -0800

I am a new manager. I have to fire my employee on Monday. Help me plan this conversation. I am in Canada. My employee is performing poorly so we're firing him. My boss is preparing the paperwork and we plan to do it on Monday. My boss and I will both be in the room, but I am the one to fire him. I feel sick about it.

For those of you that have been there - please help me. Give me any tips or tricks to help the day of firing or the conversation of firing go better.

There are way too many songs about fire.

routergirl — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 13:13:50 -0800

Fire related song from the late 80s - help me find this lost music video. Song may be awful, but I've been trying to remember/find this for years. What I remember:
Male singer. He had long straight hair, I think lighter colored. I don't think he wore a shirt. Singer was probably in his 20's. There was a lot of sexual posturing as he sang - strutting, long looks at the camera, etc. Video took place inside of a church, maybe, or at least in a room with a lot of stained glass windows. It was something to do with fire. Maybe a song about fire? I believe the church (or wherever he was) was on fire, too, but of course he was unscathed. The chorus was repetitive, there was a lot of guitar and drums, and I'd class it as rock, I guess. His voice was not scratchy, and up until several Google searches failed, I thought the chorus included him singing "FIRE" - not fire on something or fire in something, but just... fire.

This was seen in America, on MTV, in what I believe was late 80's. Song never made it big - I think it's the only song I ever heard of by the band/singer, but I can't say it's a one hit wonder since no one I knew ever liked it and I don't remember ever seeing it on countdowns. I was an obsessive MTV watcher for many years, and I don't recall ever seeing anything by them again.

It was not the Cult's Fire Woman (though that is a good song), nor was it Billy Idol or any of the other church/fire songs I have found so far (We Didn't Start the Fire by Billy Joel, Fire by the Pointer Sisters, Burning down the house by Talking Heads, Fire by Bruce Springsteen).

I realize this may be a long shot, but if any of you can name this song I'd be thrilled. Not because I think it's a great song (I suspect it will sound terrible to me now) but because it's driving me crazy not being able to find it.

How to start a fire

neustile — Wed, 07 Nov 2012 18:09:39 -0800

I have a cast iron wood stove at my house that sort of looks like this. I suck at getting a fire light in it reliably. Can you help figure out what flues and doors and vents to open and close and devise a process to always get a fire going? The stove has:

A door on the front
A door on the left
A big handle over the door on the left that appears to move a big metal thing that prevents or lets air go in and out of a bunch of holes on the inside bottom of the stove
A large pipe that goes up to the ceiling and through the roof
A knob 2 feet above the stove on that pipe that feels like it is turning a piece of metal inside the pipe to let smoke in our out of that pipe, or maybe to keep rain / snow out?
A small metal cable attached to a latch on the back that opens and shuts a tiny metal flap in front of a 4" square opening on the back bottom left

I have dry firewood, treated "fatwood" sticks, matches, paper, etc. And a "log grate" that can fit inside the fireplace.

What is the correct process? Talk to me like I grew up without a fireplace, because I did.

This meme is all wet.

dmd — Mon, 05 Nov 2012 05:44:28 -0800

How did "fire alarm goes off" → "sprinkler gets activated" become a TV trope? Have there ever been systems in wide use that act like this? inspired by

hot paintings

Hoenikker — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 07:10:16 -0800

What would happen in an art gallery fire? Presumably a commercial art gallery with any kind of modernly expensive art would have a fire suppression system, right? Are these just your regular building sprinkler systems, or is there anything fancy here to protect the paintings?

And forgetting all that for a moment, how well does a painting burn? If you burned a painting (thoroughly enough that it's unrecognizable), would anything be left afterwards?

Spaghetti Surprise!

mwhybark — Sun, 19 Aug 2012 18:16:21 -0800

I added some red wine to a hot pan containing some carmelized onions and garlic and spices and just-added cold ground turkey. FWOOM the wine ignited as if it were brandy in souvlaki. Wha? I make this spaghetti sauce about once a week, and the addition of a flavoring liquid as the meat goes in to the pan is normal. There were some more onions in the pan than usual, but not an amount I haven't cooked with previously.

The wine was a 13.9% ABV from Twisted, possibly the Old Vines Zinfandel. The wine did not appear or taste as if it had more booze than marked and would NOT match light immediately thereafter.

I kept my head and looked closely at (well, carefully observed) the flame, and the smell and appearance of the fire confirmed it as an acohol fire to my satisfaction. It burned over safely without charring a thing and definitely did contribute a bit to the flavor profile of the finished sauce.

I still cannot figure out how or why exactly it happened. I think the physics are clear enough - the heat of the pan kept enough of the wine in a vapor or gas that the booze was able to combust. However, I think that is an insufficient explanation - I have been adding wine to cookery for 20 years and have only seen harder booze, sherries or brandies, catch fire at all, and certainly never have seen either a sherry or a brandy just combust.

What happened? Can I reproduce this in a safe manner? Did the onions somehow contribute?

Who is responsible for repairs after a rental house fire?

Secretariat — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 09:02:45 -0800

Asking for a friend- Who is responsible for the cost of repairs after a house fire? I am renting the house. I have renters insurance. The fire report said no negligence on my part. I'm located in California. Fire. So the landlord assessed the fire damage, and said that I am 100% responsible for fixing the damage with a licensed contractor.

I asked if the owners had fire insurance and if it would be an option for me to pay the deductible and have the insurance take care of it, and he advised me that this would happen: the insurance would charge 5 times the amount that a regular contractor would charge to fix the product (believable), then sue me for that cost after they had fixed it (also believable, knowing insurance). Even though the fire report said that there was no negligence on my part, the landlord said that the insurance company would find loopholes in their contract in order to recover their money from me.

Advice anyone? I am already trying to get the insurance company information so that I can talk to them about it, and be better informed about my options. Anyone know anything about how house insurance works?

To Buy or Not to Buy; That is the question

theobserver — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 08:15:35 -0800

What is a good mini tablet to gift an 8-yr old? External Storage is critical as this will be used primarily as a wi-fi device and on long drives. My kid's B'day is coming up and we are looking for a sub $200 mini-tablet for her. She will use it to primarily read books, watch movies on Netflix and Youtube, check her school emails and play games.

The requirements from this device are pretty simple: decent screen, responsive processor, long battery life and external storage (for music and movies).

The external storage option stumps me, since both the Kindle Fire and Nexus 7 don't have the option to connect a USB flash drive or an SD Card and [the inbuilt storage is pathetic], while the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2.0 7" does not have the recent Android OS and is dual core.

The other factor that kind of scares me is that there might be new Amazon Kindle Fires, iPad minis and even the Microsoft tablets coming out soon and I don't want to be feel foolish with an older device (recently happened with a DSLR purchase).

What device should I buy? or should I wait for a couple of months?

I have both Netflix and Amazon Prime, if that matters.

Help make searching for a fire pit the opposite of "the pits."

shortyJBot — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 10:03:43 -0800

Is there a cheaper alternative to a new, store-bought fire pit/bowl that I'm not thinking of? (The cheapest I've seen is about $50.) I've looked online at Home Depot, Target, Lowe's and Walmart for a fire pit/fire bowl that is large enough to make a nice medium-sized fire for a few people to sit around. Is there a cheaper alternative than this that I'm not thinking of? I live in a city with a lot of thrift stores and, I'm sure, a junkyard or two.

My requirements are that it would be:

1. cheaper than $50, the price I could just pick up from the store
2. Can't damage the grass/yard when in use (so an open-bottomed fire ring wouldn't work)
3. Should be light enough to move about once a week when I have a fire. I wouldn't want to permanently set it in the grass due to damage/bald spots, and I do have access to a storage shed
4. safe to use, of course
5. Would be nice if it was a recycled/reused item

Can you help me think of something that fits this criteria? (I know end-of-season sales may be going on in a month or so, and I am willing to wait about 6 weeks or so.)

Thanks!

A one-handed read

Buffaload — Fri, 13 Jul 2012 04:56:37 -0800

Can you read books on an iPad one-handed? How about while nursing a baby? Mrs. Buffaload would like an e-reader of some kind for her birthday. At first she wanted an iPad because they do so much more than hold books...but now she's concerned that she won't be able to use it while nursing ("Won't I need two hands to turn the pages?") So now she thinks she would prefer a Kindle Fire.

Her requirements: 1) eReader
2) Light emailing and Facebooking

So she'd like the extra functionality of an iPad, but not if she couldn't easily use it as an e-Reader one-handed.

What do you think? What's your experience?

Thanks.

Old fire extinguishers good?

boby — Sun, 01 Jul 2012 05:48:11 -0800

Can old fire extinguishers be good or tested and refilled again? I have 2 old ones that are filled with ABC dry chemical and the pressure gauge shows them to be good. The date on the last inspection tag is from the year 2000. Could they still be good now?

How dangerous is a flaming car?

gentian — Sat, 30 Jun 2012 20:56:24 -0800

If a car becomes engulfed in flames, will it eventually explode like it does in the movies? I drove by a car fire the other day and now I'm wondering how much danger I was in. I saw it go from "flames licking around the tires" to "fully engulfed" in about ten seconds. Was the next step "explode like a bomb"? That's usually what happens on TV.

For what it's worth, I've been following the story in the local news and it appears that no one was seriously hurt.

How do dragons breathe fire?

aloiv2 — Tue, 15 May 2012 20:39:51 -0800

How do dragons breathe fire? Okay, this is obviously a theoretical/mythical question, but are there any books or myths that address the actual mechanism of how a dragon breathes fire? Some sort of faux biological book that might discuss it?

The Kindle Fire or the Nook Color, what's the better tablet for cartoonists??

Rosengeist — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 12:08:52 -0800

Kindle Fire vs. Nook Tablet. What's better for a cartoonist? Hello,

I am a young cartoonist and illustrator who is looking to buy a tablet. I have been told repeatedly and by several of my teachers that this is becoming a very, very important tool for someone like myself to have. Mostly because it allows an artist like myself to carry and exhibit work quickly, cleanly and professionally without needing to print copies of my work. Currently, my work is becoming more and more digitally based, and even my traditional pieces tend to get some digital enhancement.

Until very recently I had not been able to afford a tablet on my budget, but since the Nook color and Kindle fire have hit the market, I am now in a position to buy one.

This is something I would be using primarily for only a few basic things. 1.) Storing and exhibiting digital copies of my professional work. 2.) Writing and reviewing word documents (I also work on scripts a lot.) 3.) Reading ebooks and e-publications, especially pdf documents, which I often have to read for school. 4.) Light internet usage.

One thing I am also considering in this decision is the fact that this summer I will be traveling to Hong Kong for about a month and will not be able to bring my computer (or possibly even my phone) along with me. This is a school trip where I will need to be able to access emails and do light internet work. Does anyone know how well the Kindle, or the Nook work in China? Do they work their at all?

I'm quite torn between the Nook and the Kindle Fire. The Nook is cheaper, and I actually like it's general appearance and the way it feels in my hands more, but the Kindle is not so different that it bothers me. I know that the Kindle can handle Sketchbook Pro, but I'm not certain if the Nook can. That's a program I'd genuinely like to be able to use since I am doing more and more digital work. I know the Kindle can handle the materials from itunes, amazon and other major app and digital media retailers. The Nook, I'm not as certain about, it seems like it's more of a Barnes and Noble only sort of deal. If that's the case, I believe that Amazon is the stronger company which will have longer staying power, and is probably easier to access outside of the United states.

I've also considered buying a certified used 1st Gen Ipad...but I feel like it has more flashiness than I need, and that if I buy an ipad, it makes more sense to buy a newer model (Even if that's outside my budget). I could afford a used 1st gen, but not a newer model, even used.

I would also like to know how the Kindle and Nook handle stylus pens. I like sketchbook pro, but using my finger is a pain in the but for that.

Any thoughts guys? I need to purchase this tablet in the next few days because I will be attending an editor review day in the next few weeks and need to start cleaning up and fixing my portfolio for that. If anyone who reads this uses a tablet for art, or for the purposes that I'm in need of I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Thanks so much!

Contractor set the house we're buying on fire. Now what?

treblemaker — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 23:03:21 -0800

We're under contract to buy a house. Two weeks before closing, a contractor performing agreed-upon presale repairs caught the house on fire. We've got a lot of questions about what happens next. It's not gutted, but there's fairly extensive damage, especially to the top floor.

Our lender's appraiser was there the day before the fire. Consequently, there's very good documentation of what condition the house was in before. It appraised at $10k over the sale price.

We can't get conventional financing for the house in its current condition, and our lender doesn't offer rehab loans. The listing agent expressed to us that if we stick with the contract through repairs, we might wind up with a better house, including perhaps a head start on some remodeling we had been planning to do. So far we haven't found any other property we want more, so we're staying the course so far to see what happens.

It's now been three weeks since the contractor's insurance adjuster performed an inspection. So far we have had no official news. We also know the owner has lawyered up.

We've read this previous AskMe, so we have some idea of what has to be done to a house that's been through a fire.

So, our questions:
- What can we expect if we see this through? Has anyone gone through an experience similar enough that they know in what order things should happen and what we will need to do?

- We have been inside and there are business cards from restoration companies. We had heard that the contractor responsible for the fire wanted to perform the repairs, but as far as we can tell, they're not professionally qualified to do restoration jobs. How much power do we have to get involved in monitoring the restoration process? Can we help pick the company? Can we oversee the work? At the very least, are the sellers required to communicate with us about what they plan to do?

- We want to do some fairly extensive remodeling. How much of that does it make sense to try to request while the house is being fixed prior to sale? We don't want to overcomplicate things legally or sink a ton of money into extras on a house we don't yet own, but we also don't want to wind up ripping out walls right after they've been put up. If we ask them to fix the structural damage but have them stop short of installing or painting new walls or ceilings, is it possible to negotiate having a check cut to cover a percentage of the work not yet done at closing, given that the work otherwise would have had to be done to restore the property to pre-loss condition? If so, would that check go to us or the sellers? Anyway, is it theoretically possible to get a house appraised for close to its actual value if one of the floors is gutted down to studs?

We're in Oregon, in case that matters.