Should I tell the Fire Department where my guns and reloading equipment is located?

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Depending on the quantities of flammable solids you have, you might want to double check your home-owner's policy as well as any local code requirements or local HOA restrictions

A firefighters worst nightmare is the garage fire - like everyone else, I have more chemicals and flammables in there, most of which I couldn't list in an emergency if I had to
 
If you tell them and later have a fire see how enthusiastic they will be in fighting your fire.
 
"Second: The location of gun powder, propane tanks for camping and ammo.
These are stored in ammo cans inside a locked metal trunk/box."

Pretty nice bomb ya made there, for what its worth.
 
Just because someone is a firefighter doesn't mean they're not also a thief.

I learned this lesson the hard way when we sold our house a couple years ago. The home inspector was a firefighter that did home inspections as a side job ... he stole prescription pain killers and a Steyr S40 from our house while inspecting it for the buyer we were under contract with.

So I wouldn't tell anyone that doesn't need to know what and where your expensive items are.
 
By my web name you can tell that I was a firefighter for a while. I can tell you that in 99.9% of the fire departments across the country, the normal chief will appreciate the heads up, and they know that powder and cartridges are relatively harmless in a fire. Much worse is a Wal-Mart truck they haul small quantities of all kinds of haz-mat without placards and some of these are very dangerous when ignited. Our mamas didn't teach us very well, we run into burning buildings, most people run out.
 
Remember the Marine Corps tag line, "we do more by 10 am than most people do all day"?

Government bureaucrats have a similar tag line: "we cause more needless misery by 10:15 than most people cause all year." [The 10:15 allows for employees who don't come in until 10]

A few fire houses might let your house burn, on the grounds that your supplies pose an unreasonable risk to them. Presumably you know if that thinking applies where you live.
 
If you tell them and later have a fire see how enthusiastic they will be in fighting your fire.
Click to expand...

You can disregard that statement as blatantly untrue. Most every firefighter individually and fire department collectively will take every reasonable risk possible to stop/control/contain a fire and limit the damage. In most cases they are highly trained and highly motivated to fight fire in a fast, aggressive and safe way. As a matter of fact, they're actually excited by the prospect of it.

You can let them know if it makes you feel better. They'll likely place a location alert tied to your address through the 911 dispatch center, so if you call in a fire or other emergency, they'll either see the information en route to the call on a computer in the engine or get told it over the radio by a dispatcher. They'll likely classify it by the DOT HazMat class 1.3 Explosives, meaning a substance that presents a fire hazard and a minor blast hazard but not a mass explosion hazard.

That being said, it's probably unnecessary. Unless you're storing pallets of it, it's probably not enough to effect them unless they were within a few feet of it, and they wont be within a few feet of anything on fire without flowing water.

b
 
NO!

Don't become a sheep!

There is so much more that can cause problems in fighting a fire than ammo and reloading supplies. Look at my LP tank next to my house. What about my vehicles with 20+ gallons of gas in them. LP tank on grill, extra tanks in barn, paint, thinners, expanding foam cans, etc.....


If you have that much in your house you are most likely going to in violation of housing codes. Think about how much fuel would be in a pole barn that has 2-5 semi tractors, farm tractors, or other things in it.

Just my .02
 
After my own experience with the Seattle Fire Dept. I would say keep it to yourself. Two years ago I had my engine catch fire and of course called the fire dept to put it out. I informed them that I had two cases of shotgun shells in the trunk that I had just purchased from wally world for shooting trap. After they put out the fire they were immediately on the phone with the Fire Marshall to see if there was anything I should be charged with for having such a "large quantity" of shotgun shells in my car.

Anybody who shoots trap knows that 200 shells doesn't last you that long, but to these guys I might as well have had a nuclear weapon in my trunk. The Fire Marshall set them straight, but they still gave me a lot of grief. After that experience, I'm not telling the fire dept. anything they don't need to know.
 
A good fire firefighter will assume there are any number of hazards and proceed accordingly. not all firefighters retain information well and they most definitely will not recall all hazards of which they are apprised regardless of the population, whether it is written down, etc. And with the coming and going of personnel there is no way that information will be known to them. My answer is twofold. Do the best you can to prevent any fire anywhere and second, do not tell anyone where you keep anything. ANd hopefully you have the financial resources to adequately protect you guns and reloading equipment.</P>Don't tell anyone.</P>Lonesomewolf
 
I think they care. But I would tell them when they arrived on the scene. I think the gasoline in my garage is a far greater hazard to the firefighters.
 
...I think the gasoline in my garage is a far greater hazard to the firefighters.
Click to expand...

LOL, reminds me of when I started reloading and my wife was panicked about the 2 lbs of Bullseye that I had bought. I reminded her of the five 5-gallon containers of gas over in the corner of the garage, our hurricane season generator supply. Plus the 10 gallons of white fuel for our lanterns and camping stove. Plus my paint thinner, paint, recycled oil, bbq lighter fluid, etc. Not to mention the 40 gallons of gas in my truck and the 15 gallons of gas in her car, all in the garage.

Most people never think in those terms.
 
Simple answer: NO

There's no guarantee of the security of the information you release.......

OTOH, you can construct a "powder safe" that meets national standards and placard/identify it.......and give that info to your FD...... >MW
 
Thanks for the well-reasoned replies.

For what it's worth, I'm in a pretty conservative part of Texas. Most of the firefighters are probably gun owners as well. Heck, they may even be motivated by the knowledge that they're helping to save someone's firearms... ;)
 
Loose talk among any informed people elsewhere, then repeated and overheard just once by a brother-in-law (or stranger), who has a drug problem might be the main risk.
 
Whoa Whoa Whoa hold one just a minute, First of all just to answer the question, You dont need to run to your local FD and tell them, you will do best by explaining that if something bad were to happen. Second of all where did this "firefighters are thieves" thing come up? i mean sure there is a bad apple in every bunch but that is just un called for. AND, With all due respect to all the people on here freaking out about a firefighter being even slightly hesitant about entering any structure, I have two things for you. First of all gunpowder and loaded rounds are very low on our list of "hey, watch out for that" If you saw half of the crap we run headlong in to to save someone a$$ you would realize how unimportant a little bit of powder is. Second of all We are trained for just that, to expect the unexpected. I can promise you if you have any thoughts like this i will tell you what you need to do. Go strait to your local FD and sign up to be a volunteer.
 
side note: beleive it or not woody i live in south carolina, am a gun owner, and i have personally saved a few firearms in my day, i am a gun owner and would want someone to do the same for me. u may laugh but its true. we have three priorities, 1. our lives 2. YOUR life 3. Personal property, just sayin
 
and sig228, with all due respect, yes, we do. i dont want to hear ANYONE talkin crap against my brothers. This goes for anyone, if we ever come to YOUR fire tell us where the hazards are and it will be greatly appreciated, i can assure you of that
 
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