Sculpey left in oven - maybe
October 11, 2018 3:03 PM Subscribe
I’m a school librarian. I may or may not have left a toaster oven on at 215F on in my office with a one inch piece of polymer (scupper) clay inside, baking, around 11:45. I cannot remember if I turned it off. If it’s stull turned on, what are my chances that it will still be fine overnight and not catch fire or explode? There’s a limited custodial staff there at night but I have no way to get in touch, and my badge won’t get me into the building this late. Plus it’s forty minutes each way. Thoughts???
Best answer: Former property manager here. Call your manager. There are procedures for these situations. Someone knows how to get into the building, or how to get a hold of the custodial staff (someone with a key).
posted by vignettist at 3:15 PM on October 11, 2018 [5 favorites]
posted by vignettist at 3:15 PM on October 11, 2018 [5 favorites]
Best answer: This may ease your mind, if this is the type of material you are using.
posted by uncaken at 3:31 PM on October 11, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by uncaken at 3:31 PM on October 11, 2018 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Seconding call the fire dept. and tell them, at least to ease your mind. I don't know how the librarian could find the number for a school property manager, but it seems like the kind of information schools ought to start providing. Til then though: fire dept. (Avoid 911 if you can find a listing for the fire dept. non emergency number.)
posted by nantucket at 3:43 PM on October 11, 2018
posted by nantucket at 3:43 PM on October 11, 2018
Best answer: Just on the off chance this is helpful: it's not the kind of toaster oven that only turns on by turning on a timer, is it? It's definitely a pure on/off switch with no automatic shutoff? If you're not completely sure about whether it has an automatic shutoff, but can remember enough details about the oven to search for a manual, that might be worth trying.
If you don't know for sure there's no automatic shutoff, call the fire department.
posted by asperity at 3:45 PM on October 11, 2018
If you don't know for sure there's no automatic shutoff, call the fire department.
posted by asperity at 3:45 PM on October 11, 2018
Best answer: (Note that the Sculpey alone may not be your only problem; if the oven's placed near anything else that could be flammable, that would be bad.)
posted by asperity at 3:47 PM on October 11, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by asperity at 3:47 PM on October 11, 2018 [2 favorites]
Best answer: The fire department will have a way to bypass the security system to get in. This is what they do, so I hope you call the nearest fire house to the school and everything turns out ok.
posted by jbenben at 3:50 PM on October 11, 2018 [5 favorites]
posted by jbenben at 3:50 PM on October 11, 2018 [5 favorites]
Best answer: I've got some experience with polymer clay, but I have no idea what "scupper" means in this context. So if that's an important element of your question you may want to disregard this.
215F is a relatively low temperature for polymer clay, so I think it would be unlikely to catch fire but would definitely end up filling the area with a horrible smell of overheated plastic.
Polymer clay does not explode, so you don't have to worry about that unless you put some sort of explosive scupper thing in there. Maybe you did -- if so, be sure to mention that to the FD!
However, if it does catch fire it could destroy a lot of the library and any other attached buildings. So even if there's a low chance of it catching fire, the consequences would be terrible!
Look up the number for the fire department nearest the school and let them know about the situation. Don't call 911 as your call will get routed to the appropriate place for where you live, not where the school is.
posted by yohko at 4:13 PM on October 11, 2018 [1 favorite]
215F is a relatively low temperature for polymer clay, so I think it would be unlikely to catch fire but would definitely end up filling the area with a horrible smell of overheated plastic.
Polymer clay does not explode, so you don't have to worry about that unless you put some sort of explosive scupper thing in there. Maybe you did -- if so, be sure to mention that to the FD!
However, if it does catch fire it could destroy a lot of the library and any other attached buildings. So even if there's a low chance of it catching fire, the consequences would be terrible!
Look up the number for the fire department nearest the school and let them know about the situation. Don't call 911 as your call will get routed to the appropriate place for where you live, not where the school is.
posted by yohko at 4:13 PM on October 11, 2018 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Can you get in touch with the principal or other administrators? They should have access to the building, or at least be able to contact evening staff.
posted by sencha at 4:26 PM on October 11, 2018
posted by sencha at 4:26 PM on October 11, 2018
Response by poster: Thank you all for your help and suggestions!
In my panic I had a typo, it should have read Sculpey, not scupper - darn autocorrect.
As fate would have it, there was a meeting in the building and I got ahold of someone there, who checked for me...... and it was off the whole time. So I made a fools of myself in front of the assistant superintendent, my principal, and the special Ed director because I texted them all, but we all said better safe than sorry.
I’m relieved and will try to forget my embarrassment and just be glad nothing caught on fire:
Thanks all.
posted by firei at 4:28 PM on October 11, 2018 [74 favorites]
In my panic I had a typo, it should have read Sculpey, not scupper - darn autocorrect.
As fate would have it, there was a meeting in the building and I got ahold of someone there, who checked for me...... and it was off the whole time. So I made a fools of myself in front of the assistant superintendent, my principal, and the special Ed director because I texted them all, but we all said better safe than sorry.
I’m relieved and will try to forget my embarrassment and just be glad nothing caught on fire:
Thanks all.
posted by firei at 4:28 PM on October 11, 2018 [74 favorites]
Best answer: It is not foolish to check! Toaster ovens catch fire all the time so good on you for being cautious.
posted by mai at 4:39 PM on October 11, 2018 [22 favorites]
posted by mai at 4:39 PM on October 11, 2018 [22 favorites]
Best answer: Thanks for doing the right thing! I've done similar things and seriously, better safe than sorry. One time I wasn't incorrect, making all my previous alarm bells feel a lot more worth it.
posted by sockermom at 4:41 PM on October 11, 2018 [13 favorites]
posted by sockermom at 4:41 PM on October 11, 2018 [13 favorites]
This question was almost too eponysterical.
posted by saladin at 7:13 AM on October 12, 2018 [5 favorites]
posted by saladin at 7:13 AM on October 12, 2018 [5 favorites]
Never foolish to check;would have been more foolish to lose your job for not checking while the building burned down!
posted by vignettist at 9:02 AM on October 12, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by vignettist at 9:02 AM on October 12, 2018 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by jbenben at 3:07 PM on October 11, 2018 [2 favorites]