# 3 young workers with severe burns



## Cole82 (Nov 22, 2008)

I saw this in the news back in aug.3 but they didn't ever say what the explosion was from. Just said there was an explosion in a rural house and 3 men were injured.

Tonight they had the fallow up story. 3 Young construction workers were preping a floor to be refinished. They were cleaning the floor when all the sudden the whole floor and them were covered in flames.

Here is the video: "Warning"
http://www.kgan.com/shared/newsroom/top_stories/videos/kgan_vid_4106.shtml


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## tcleve4911 (Mar 26, 2006)

I still didn't get what caused the explosion, did you?


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## Electric_Light (Nov 25, 2007)

Cole82 said:


> I saw this in the news back in aug.3 but they didn't ever say what the explosion was from. Just said there was an explosion in a rural house and 3 men were injured.
> 
> Tonight they had the fallow up story. 3 Young construction workers were *preping a floor to be refinished*. They were cleaning the floor when all the sudden the whole floor and them were covered in flames.
> 
> ...


Article says basement. Preparing a floor/cleaning = probably something like acetone, MEK or another highly volatile flammable solvent with low flash point.

Basement... perhaps the gas water heater pilot? Thermostat? Light switch? Anything basically. Solvent usually tell you to limit usage to xx square feet to prevent it from reaching explosive vapor concentration. 

I'm guessing they were using flammable solvents and this being a basement, ventilation was probably poor and exceeded the flammable threshold, which most likely means exceeding NIOSH and OSHA PEL. The mixture ignited, then the solvent covered floor went on fire.


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## dprimc (Mar 13, 2009)

Smoke break. :thumbsup:


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## jlhaslip (Dec 31, 2009)

Nasty stuff.


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## TBFGhost (Oct 9, 2008)

That sucks...I am just amazed that ppl still do this to themselves....


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## dkillianjr (Aug 28, 2006)

This reminds me of a story my grandpap told me a few times:laughing: Back in the day his best friend was painting his basement floor with some kind of coating he got from another friend. I'm sure what ever it was it had to be toxic and flammable it was back in the day:laughing: I can't remember if it was the hot water heater or something else that triggered it. 

But the guy ended up burned up pretty bad, he said it was like a wall of flames!


Dave


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## Electric_Light (Nov 25, 2007)

dkillianjr said:


> This reminds me of a story my grandpap told me a few times:laughing: Back in the day his best friend was painting his basement floor with some kind of coating he got from another friend. I'm sure what ever it was it had to be toxic and flammable it was back in the day:laughing: I can't remember if it was the hot water heater or something else that triggered it.
> 
> But the guy ended up burned up pretty bad, he said it was like a wall of flames!
> 
> ...


It was not all that rare to hear about gas stored in garage for garden equipment evaporating and igniting from pilot. Now new gas water heaters have to have flame trap, so if something flammable goes in, flame won't escape. 

Mineral spirits is similar to diesel, but products containing highly volatile, ignitable solvents (anything marked "extremely flammable" as opposed to "combustible") should be given the same care as a gasoline in an open container.

With the exception of natural gas, just about every flammable gases are heavier than air and lingers near the floor.


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## Rob PA (Aug 30, 2010)

high amount of vapor or dust...i saw a similar story were they were working in a bathroom...and the arc from a light switch caused the ignition..they found the floor machine outside of the house in the driveway...couple people died in the story i saw a few years back..dont make someone elses problem yours...if it cant be done safely dont do it or let someone else do it


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## Winchester (Jun 29, 2008)

That sucks... I think I'd rather get cut than burned for sure.

I remember a few years ago I was working on a house in a new subd. and there were painters two houses down... apparently they were working in the basement and heard they got burned pretty bad.

Don't know any of the details, but I guess you gotta always be careful in places with poor ventilation.


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## cleveman (Dec 28, 2007)

I saw the kids on the news as well. 

When you find yourself with something flammable in a confined area or doing electrical work in a wet area or preparing to step up on a bucket on top of a ladder, you need to stop and think things over a bit first.


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## TBFGhost (Oct 9, 2008)

cleveman said:


> I saw the kids on the news as well.
> 
> When you find yourself with something flammable in a confined area or doing electrical work in a wet area or preparing to step up on a bucket on top of a ladder, you need to stop and think things over a bit first.


 
:thumbsup: With this, I am going to end up cutting my head off in some freak oscillationg tool accident tommorrow.


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## world llc (Dec 9, 2008)

iv heard of quite a few laquer or sanding sealer explosions. most older floor guys have a story or know someone who has a story about it....

sometimes, even when doing what your supposed to do, accidents will happen... even though these guys probably didn't take proper precautions...


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## Bradracer18 (Dec 14, 2005)

Guys-

I myself have been burned previously....but I read this post, and led me to show you guys a similar incident which I knew was posted on the net. 

Check out this link, I met this guy in a bar once (we are both from different parts of the country)...and he was singing and playing the piano. Pretty funny story I guess. 


Brad


http://www.burnsurvivorusa.com/my_story.shtml


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## Electric_Light (Nov 25, 2007)

Bradracer18 said:


> Guys-
> 
> I myself have been burned previously....but I read this post, and led me to show you guys a similar incident which I knew was posted on the net.
> 
> ...


And that's one of the reasons we have warnings like "knives are sharp".


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## Bradracer18 (Dec 14, 2005)

yeah, I guess....not sure what you are implying. Accidents happen. And keep in mind that was in the early 90's.


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## Electric_Light (Nov 25, 2007)

Bradracer18 said:


> yeah, I guess....not sure what you are implying. Accidents happen. And keep in mind that was in the early 90's.


They do, and people blame others and sue, so warnings get stupid and long.


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## Bradracer18 (Dec 14, 2005)

yeah, i suppose. Depends on which side of it you are on most likely...mine wasn't from mis-reading a label, so I understand your point


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## Bastien1337 (Dec 20, 2010)

I feel sorry for the guy, but he must have been using a s*** load of acetone for it have ignited a pilot light down the hall.


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