Way to Endanger a Neighborhood Guys!

[Geek King]

Rather than walk across the driveway (or call/text/email) to let my neighbor know, the renter ignored it for months until the nice wood floor was rotted and moldy. Now this wasn't an emergency however it does show that most people will ignore something as long as possible.

I can actually one-up this, via one of our local maintenance staff. One of our customers used their shower without a shower curtain for so long that the floor next to the tub rotted out and you could see the ceiling of the apartment below through the floor.

The apartment below was vacant due to fire damage in the kitchen being repaired, which is why it wasn't reported for leaky ceiling until the workers down there did a pre-lease walk through.

[KuariKaydrith]

Don't most restaurant grill hoods HAVE a fire suppression system in them that douses the grill with fire extinguisher fluid?

Any commercial kitchen I have worked in had a fire suppression system in the hoods over the grill and fryers. They are legally required, afaik. All you'd need to do is reach up and pull the handle if the fire was bigger than you could contain with a metal pot lid or bowl. And it makes one hell of a mess as a coworker once found out when he pulled it just to see what it did. Fire suppression foam went everywhere and we were still finding bits of it in corners and under shelves for months afterwards.

[mathnerd]

I can actually one-up this, via one of our local maintenance staff. One of our customers used their shower without a shower curtain for so long that the floor next to the tub rotted out and you could see the ceiling of the apartment below through the floor.

The apartment below was vacant due to fire damage in the kitchen being repaired, which is why it wasn't reported for leaky ceiling until the workers down there did a pre-lease walk through.

One of my parents' tenants, about 7 or 8 years ago, ignored a small crack in the tile walls above the bathtub. By the time we realized there was a problem, we had to gut the entire bathroom due to damage inside the walls and around the bath tub, and mold in the ceiling (it never got dry in there, so the mold spread from behind the tile through the ceiling).

[Seshat]

Fire suppression foam went everywhere and we were still finding bits of it in corners and under shelves for months afterwards.

At least you know the foam gets everywhere the fire is likely to be. MUCH better than the alternative!

[Cia]

It would have to be an ionisation or thermal detector, rather than a standard (optical or radioactive) particle detector. But they are readily available; the standard automatic sprinkler bulb is an example of a thermal detector.

They should've had an ion, a rate-of-rise or an intelligent detector along with an ansul system for the range hood. Along with employees who could handle the stress of the situation.

On another note, my BFF's dad rented a house to his grandson, his grandson's girlfriend and their baby. She paid no attention to the toilet in the basement when it overflowed and told no one about it until mold started growing. Yes mold growing in the same house as her infant. She proved to be a winner.

[nutraxfornerves]

My office was once temporarily relocated to a building otherwise occupied by Very Important Staffers of Very Important Elected Officials. One day the fire alarm went off, and we dutifully tromped off to the designated evacuation area for an hour or so until the Fire Dept. gave the all clear.

I later got the whole story from the building manager. The "fire" was overcooked popcorn in the VIP area that set off a smoke detector. However, as the FD did their clearance walk through, they discovered something interesting. It seems that VIPs should not have to abide by petty rules that declare that no smoking is allowed in the building. So most of the smoke alarms in the VIP floors had plastic bags taped over them so that cigarette smoke wouldn't set them off.

For some odd reason, the FD was not amused. The Fire Chief knew how to take care of it. He gently murmured to some of the Very Important Elected Officials, that they could enforce the no smoking ban and prevent smoke detector tampering, or, gosh, the local newspaper might just find out that your staffs are endangering a whole building full of people. Oh, by the way, we have the legal right to fine you a huge amount for this and we think it would be swell if you quietly just paid the fine. Which we get to keep for FD use.

The story never appeared in the local news, but I suddenly started seeing lots of VIPs smoking in the designated area outside the building.

[eltf177]

I'm glad the Chief didn't let this slide!

[Mondestrucken]

All I can think of is what if tenants were trapped above while these two idiots were hanging out? That is criminal, and dying in a fire is a horrible way to go.

[Dave1982]

And it makes one hell of a mess as a coworker once found out when he pulled it just to see what it did. Fire suppression foam went everywhere and we were still finding bits of it in corners and under shelves for months afterwards.

That reminds me of an incident I read about that occurred in Boston a year or so ago.

There was a serious auto accident that had involved an out of control car crashing into a gas pump and pinning some poor guy between the car and the pump. As can be imagined, this drew a large response from the Boston Fire Department due to the obvious dangers. While they were working to free him, the fire suppression system installed in the forecourt awning was somehow triggered, covering the entire accident scene - including the victim, the firefighters, and the fire trucks with dry firefighting chemicals.

This was more than just a big mess.....these chemicals are designed to do only one thing and "be harmless to humans" isn't it. A couple of firefighters had to be taken to the hospital after breathing that stuff in, and the incident had to be upgraded to a HazMat response to get the scene properly cleaned up. Then all the rigs that had been covered with dry chemical had to be taken out of service for a thorough wash-down.

[wolfie]

the fire suppression system installed in the forecourt awning was somehow triggered, covering the entire accident scene - including the victim, the firefighters, and the fire trucks with dry firefighting chemicals.

This was more than just a big mess.....these chemicals are designed to do only one thing and "be harmless to humans" isn't it. A couple of firefighters had to be taken to the hospital after breathing that stuff in, and the incident had to be upgraded to a HazMat response to get the scene properly cleaned up.

I'm surprised. One of the 2 standard chemicals for portable dry-chemical extinguishers (can't recall whether it's the ABC one or just the BC) is sodium bicarbonate - A.K.A. baking soda, which should be pretty harmless. Unless a hazardous chemical were MUCH more effective, I'd be surprised at a gas station NOT using sodium bicarbonate in their suppression system, simply because of the lower cost of cleaning up a non-hazardous chemical in the event of the system being triggered.

[mhkohne]

I'm surprised. One of the 2 standard chemicals for portable dry-chemical extinguishers (can't recall whether it's the ABC one or just the BC) is sodium bicarbonate - A.K.A. baking soda, which should be pretty harmless. Unless a hazardous chemical were MUCH more effective, I'd be surprised at a gas station NOT using sodium bicarbonate in their suppression system, simply because of the lower cost of cleaning up a non-hazardous chemical in the event of the system being triggered.

I think the stuff they use is an expanding foam - it ends up covering a huge area for a relatively small volume of stuff, makinb it easier to install and maintain. As such, it does end up being a better suppressant, and so it's deemed worth the trouble and occasional injuries (most of the time, on a forecort fire, everyone can just run away out of the foam).