Articles Posted in Resources

Last week, I wrote a blog that covered the new fire hazards that are part of everyday life because of new technology and products being sold to the public. Well, a perfect example of this popped up this week:

On June 21, Farmington, NH high-school students trying to complete final exams were interrupted when an iPod battery exploded in a classroom. To avoid smoke inhalation, the classroom was evacuated and the school locked down for a short period.

The local TV station reported that a 16-year-old boy was responsible for the situation, because he repeatedly bent his iPod music player, which caused it to malfunction. The boy bent the iPod so many times that the gadget’s plastic casing broke open, but he continued to flex the broken case anyway. Soon thereafter, this caused the lithium-ion battery to emit smoke and sparks. The boy dropped the iPod on the classroom’s tile floor and poured water on the device to put out the fire.

Engineers from General Motors and a few insurance representatives are investigating whether a Chevrolet Volt, or its charging cord or charging station, caused a fire in mid-April that destroyed a garage in England. What’s more, fire officials and auto experts were surprised when the unplugged hybrid electric car began smoldering again–four days after the blaze!

Firefighters returned to the garage after being told that smoke emerged from underneath the Volt once again. The car had not been moved since its initial fire four days before, which also destroyed a second vehicle–a 1987 Suzuki Samurai that the Volt’s owner had converted to electric power.

“The rekindle of the fire four days later really adds to the mystery,” said the local fire official.

Just in time for summer, a product warning goes out so that people don’t get severely burned during backyard cookouts.

Here are the details: A jelly-like fuel made for ceramic firepots has been removed from store shelves this week after a pair of explosions severely injured three people in New York.

A 14-year-old Long Island boy nearly burned to death after a bottle of FireGel exploded in his backyard on May 28. Michael Hubbard of Riverhead was still hospitalized in grave condition with third-degree burns over much of his body. And on June 3, a New York City man nearly died and a friend was burned after a similar explosion.

Unfortunately, in the past few weeks, there have been two terrible incidents where people were killed or suffered third-degree burns because they did not take the time to plan an escape route from a building in the event of a fire. What’s more, they did not have fire extinguishers nearby that could have saved them.

First, in Gettysburg, PA, three men suffered serious burns in a garage fire in late May. William Rexroth, Jerry Shultz and Randy Beck–all are around age 50–were in a garage working on vehicles when a fire broke out, according to Pennsylvania State Police. The garage door was closed, so it was difficult and time-consuming for them to get out, police said. They eventually broke out windows and escaped. All three suffered third-degree burns. Rexroth and Shultz were taken to Lehigh Valley Hospital and Beck was taken to the Johns Hopkins Burn Center.

Any time you are in a work area such as a garage, you must make sure that there is not only a clear escape route but also good air ventilation into the room so that if a fire does break out, you do not get overcome by smoke inhalation within seconds. Also, these men should have had a fire extinguisher nearby, as they were handling flammable liquids that were in and around the vehicles they were working on.

On Thursday, May 26 in Belleville, NJ, a fire at the five-story Tudor Arms apartments resulted in the dramatic rescue of a 65-year-old woman, who was overcome by smoke and burns.

Belleville Fire Prevention Specialist Ralph Castellano happened to be near the five-story, 50-unit apartment building around 3:30 p.m. when the fire dispatch received a call from the burning building. Castellano immediately entered the building, and with the aid of Belleville police, alerted and evacuated the tenants.

Castellano encountered heavy smoke on the third floor, and without any protective gear or a breathing mask, made his way to the third-floor apartment where the fire was. He found the woman lying on the floor near the doorway.