14 guage Extension cord and block heater results

[mtlogcabin]

An undersized 100 ft extension cord plugged into the block heater of the boom truck. The connection overheated and caught the truck on fire inside the warehouse. It filled the 20 foot tall 25,000 sq ft building with black smoke to the floor. $200,000 in damages. No fire damage to the building just smoke. Luckily the building is used for the sales and distribution of gypsum board otherwise it would have been quite the fire event for this small town.

 

[Glenn]

Thank you for sharing. It's real world examples like this that encourage us (owner, designer, contractor, inspector) to do our jobs the best we can.

 

[Insurance Engineer]

Did the building have a sprinkler system, if so, did it do its job?

 

[mtlogcabin]

Did the building have a sprinkler system, if so, did it do its job?

Yes it has a sprinkler system and no it did not do its job because it has been out of service for the past 10 years as agreed with a previous fire chief.

An S-2 single story V-B construction, 25,000 sq ft and 60 ft clear on all 4 sides. May not require a sprinkler under todays code.

 

[97catintenn]

what size was the block heater? 14g extension cord 100' should be good for 15amps. My block heater pulls 6.25amps. I just replaced my 16g 100ft (rated at 10amps) extension cord with a 14g 60' one, because I worried about something like this happening.

 

[steveray]

It would probably be close with the perimeter increase......but I do not think it would make it, I would have to do the math....

Yes it has a sprinkler system and no it did not do its job because it has been out of service for the past 10 years as agreed with a previous fire chief.An S-2 single story V-B construction, 25,000 sq ft and 60 ft clear on all 4 sides. May not require a sprinkler under todays code.

 

[mtlogcabin]

what size was the block heater? 14g extension cord 100' should be good for 15amps. My block heater pulls 6.25amps. I just replaced my 16g 100ft (rated at 10amps) extension cord with a 14g 60' one, because I worried about something like this happening.

Not sure of the size of the block heater but the cord was full of nots and twist according to the FC

 

[Insurance Engineer]

Yes it has a sprinkler system and no it did not do its job because it has been out of service for the past 10 years as agreed with a previous fire chief.An S-2 single story V-B construction, 25,000 sq ft and 60 ft clear on all 4 sides. May not require a sprinkler under todays code.

Lets hope they also notified the insurance carrier of the out of service sprinkler system, if not they may have problems getting payment!:banghd

 

[codeworks]

alot of what happens with cords is the female end gets warn and loose, and they get hot just making contact ( beacause you dont have a great connection. arcing starts in the cord end, gets more hot, smoke, more heat and fire. i've seen it a bunch of time on job sites while working . simply amazing to watch. hard to convince some people that it actuallt happens.

 

[mtlogcabin]

Lets hope they also notified the insurance carrier of the out of service sprinkler system, if not they may have problems getting payment!:banghd

Insurance carrier has been aware of the sprinkler system out of service and adjusted the premiums. I just wonder if they will drop them now or require the system to be put in service.

The FC said the smoke was so thick they could not even see the fire about 30 ft fom the door they opened

 

[Insurance Engineer]

Insurance carrier has been aware of the sprinkler system out of service and adjusted the premiums. I just wonder if they will drop them now or require the system to be put in service.The FC said the smoke was so thick they could not even see the fire about 30 ft fom the door they opened

Hard to say it depends on how big the account is. If this is the only location and the perimum is low they may not renew. If this is one of any many locations insured for this client then perhaps they will stay on the policy. All insurance have different underwriting standards and how they deal with losses and renewals.

I would hope now that the building owner had a fire they would see the advantage of the sprinkler system and place it back into service regardless of what the insurance company wants.

 

[Frank]

From looking at the pictures and description I am not sure that a sprinkler system would have made alot of difference as the fire would have been shielded by the hood/fenders and the fire did not spread. Truck would still have been a total loss and the building still would have been smoked up. I suspect the $200 000 damages is low, unless the truck was older and the inventory was low.