Drizzt
Member
Garage contained firearms business
Lindsey Collom
The Arizona Republic
Jun. 11, 2005 12:00 AM
An early Wednesday blaze was the second in Chandler in as many weeks to draw attention to the hazards of mixing fire with firearms.
Several gunpowder explosions fueled the flames at a house in the 800 block of West Highland Street shortly after midnight. The homeowner's garage was the nucleus of Dupage Trading Company, an Internet-based firearms business specializing in collectible guns and parts.
On fire, it was a time bomb, fire officials said.
Flames lapped throughout, morphing the garage into a tangle of ashen wood and soot-covered metal. Several explosions flung shell casings and debris, some of it landing in the street more than 50 feet away. A few firefighters were struck by the particulates but no one was hurt.
Investigators have yet to determine the cause of the fire, and damage estimates were not available.
Combustibles - like gunpowder - in a burning structure can be dangerous to firefighters, Chandler Battalion Chief Dan Couch said.
On May 27, firefighters didn't know about a large cache of ammunition before attacking the blaze at a home in the 3200 block of North Ash Drive. No one was harmed, but crews felt lucky. The home was a total loss.
Couch said, "If the homeowner is outside and we have time before we go in, we ask, 'Are you sure all of the people are out? Is there anything else we need to be aware of?' "
Like anything else, firearms get damaged in the flames but they are in no danger of firing, according Nelson Ford. Ford owns and operated The Gunsmith, Inc., firearm repair and modification shop in Phoenix.
"Let's say you have a cartridge and you throw it into fire," Nelson said.
"The heat generated sets the cartridge off, but the bullet goes nowhere. The bullet doesn't go flying out and hit somebody. It requires firing from a trapped area."
Major General Julian Hatcher conducted tests on what happens to small arms ammunition in fires and documented the results in Hatcher's Notebook, published in 1947. If the cartridge is not in a strong steel chamber, he wrote, there is no pressure behind the projectile to force it out at a high velocity.
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/tempe/articles/0611CR-fire09Z10.html
Lindsey Collom
The Arizona Republic
Jun. 11, 2005 12:00 AM
An early Wednesday blaze was the second in Chandler in as many weeks to draw attention to the hazards of mixing fire with firearms.
Several gunpowder explosions fueled the flames at a house in the 800 block of West Highland Street shortly after midnight. The homeowner's garage was the nucleus of Dupage Trading Company, an Internet-based firearms business specializing in collectible guns and parts.
On fire, it was a time bomb, fire officials said.
Flames lapped throughout, morphing the garage into a tangle of ashen wood and soot-covered metal. Several explosions flung shell casings and debris, some of it landing in the street more than 50 feet away. A few firefighters were struck by the particulates but no one was hurt.
Investigators have yet to determine the cause of the fire, and damage estimates were not available.
Combustibles - like gunpowder - in a burning structure can be dangerous to firefighters, Chandler Battalion Chief Dan Couch said.
On May 27, firefighters didn't know about a large cache of ammunition before attacking the blaze at a home in the 3200 block of North Ash Drive. No one was harmed, but crews felt lucky. The home was a total loss.
Couch said, "If the homeowner is outside and we have time before we go in, we ask, 'Are you sure all of the people are out? Is there anything else we need to be aware of?' "
Like anything else, firearms get damaged in the flames but they are in no danger of firing, according Nelson Ford. Ford owns and operated The Gunsmith, Inc., firearm repair and modification shop in Phoenix.
"Let's say you have a cartridge and you throw it into fire," Nelson said.
"The heat generated sets the cartridge off, but the bullet goes nowhere. The bullet doesn't go flying out and hit somebody. It requires firing from a trapped area."
Major General Julian Hatcher conducted tests on what happens to small arms ammunition in fires and documented the results in Hatcher's Notebook, published in 1947. If the cartridge is not in a strong steel chamber, he wrote, there is no pressure behind the projectile to force it out at a high velocity.
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/tempe/articles/0611CR-fire09Z10.html
