What safety measures do you take to prevent garage fires?

[5th T/A]

I came across this YouTube video;   https://youtu.be/WMkYRaSlorM
Fortunately there wasn’t any injury or loss of life. A garage fire would be devastating for any car collector. It got me thinking about my garage and what I do right and what I could do better.
I have two garage’s one attached to my house used for our daily drivers and the other unattached that I store my TA and five motorcycles. The second story of the unattached is my wife’s quilting studio that contains her long arm quilting machine.
 
The attached garage has 5/8” sheetrock on the interior walls and ceiling as required by local code. The only thing left plugged in is the garage door opener. But I do store several 5-gallon fuel cans and a couple 20lb LP bottles, probably not a good idea. All electrical is in metal conduit as required by code. I do not have any heat or smoke alarms.

My detached garage electrical is also all contained in metal conduit as required by code. The interior walls are all 5/8” sheet rock. It is heated by a house furnace, 96% efficient, no open flame as combustion air is introduced from the outside. I do store paint and oil in a metal cabinet. Nothing is left plugged in, except battery tenders on all the motorcycles.  All the motorcycles, TA and standby generator have fuel in them. I have a decent fire extinguisher hanging on the wall but no heat alarm.

I have read that most garage fires are caused by electrical problems. Obviously, vehicles and any lawn or garden equipment contain flammables.

What do other members do to prevent garage fires? Anyone have a remote structure for storing Fuel, paint and other flammables? What are your thoughts on leaving battery tenders plugged in? What about fire alarm systems tied to home security that would alert your fire department?

Any advice, good or bad your wish to share?

[aussieta]

i was just watching that video yesterday
i think lithium batteries are the biggest cause of garage fires
https://cosmosmagazine.com/technology/battery-fire-lithium-ion/#:~:text=The%20central%20risk%20with%20lithium,the%20consequences%20can%20be%20serious.
besides obvious, using grinder or oxy without clear zone

[FormTA]

Nothing to add but I should get some new larger fire extinguishers


Maybe Kerry can chime in. He had a shop fire and it took everything. I wonder what, if anything would have helped his situation. My memory of it is fuzzy.

[rkellerjr]

Things like gas and such are stored in my shed away from my house and not in the attached garage. I do have lithium batteries for power tools and lawn tools in the garage as that is where they are charged (shed does not have electrical). I make sure they are unplugged after fully charging. Besides the TA and furnace, nothing else could start a fire. I have an old fire extinguisher that I probably need to replace. I do not have any alarms which is something I probably need to get just because the furnace is out there.

[Mac]

Just bought two new extinguishers for the garage. Also don’t leave your cordless batteries on the charger, once charged take them off. Don’t trust the ones that say once battery is charged it shuts off. Plus those china made chargers are mostly the culprits.
Ask me how I know, there have been two garage fire just last week in the town I work in, both caused by battery chargers. The FD guys told me this is becoming more and more of a problem. 

[tajoe]

And, to add to that, one of the guys I work with, was home when his caught fire on his cellar workbench. Fortunately he was home to catch it, B4 it got out of hand. I put mine on a metal surface, like my mortising machine table.

[FormTA]

We charge lipos in a fire proof charging bag as my friend almost lost his garage because of lipo battery fire.

[roadking77]

2017-11-09_10-01-34 by Kerry Grubb, on Flickr
2017-11-09_10-01-34 by Kerry Grubb, on Flickr
2017-11-09_10-02-37 by Kerry Grubb, on Flickr

THIS!

Yes, sorry to beat a dead horse, but maybe theres someone new that hasnt seen these. I was using an angle grinder, stepped away for literally 5 minutes, heard a pop and fully engulfed in a matter of minutes.

What did I learn/do to prevent this? Probably not much, duh!! I try to be very careful, I do have some paint stored but its mostly latex. I still have a pile of wood (its my business) and sawdust. I try to keep it cleaned up after every use. The new shop is separated from the garage area. I keep my yard equipment in the garage. I should (but dont) have a fireproof cabinet to store my 3-5 gallon fuel cans. I have no less than 4 medium sized fire extinguishers spread around the area. I keep my motorcycle on a battery tender and keep my cordless drill batteries plugged in all the time. I will have to re-think that idea. One thing I do differently, when I weld or cut (or use something flammable) I wait around in the shop for an hour before I go inside.

[5th T/A]

All, thanks for the feedback and suggestions. Kerry, I forgot about your mishap, I think this must have been before I was a member of TAC. Seeing a worst-case scenario like this makes me want to do whatever I can to avoid this kind of nightmare.

I am pretty good about leaving almost nothing plugged in when I am not around. I have thought about building a small shed, located away from everything else for storing my fuel and LPG. I have also thought about a whole house fire / burglar alarm that would alert the authorities. The problem is fire can spread so quickly. I have some friends who are or were fire fighters, I will pick their brains.

[tajoe]

OMG, After reading all this, alls I can say is..."I've been a bad boy". (I need-ta get my act together.....tomorrow)

[FormTA]

Thanks for sharing again Kerry, hope it was ok to ask you to show them again. I feel it's a good reminder for others to hang around and make sure everything is good as well as have fire extinguishers on hand. I shut the lights out and look for glowing things in my shop before I leave. Your pictures are unfortunate but a good visual that force caution on me where normally I wouldn't have.

[roadking77]

Not a problem at all. If it makes someone stop and think twice to prevent it from happening to them then great.

[Jack]

Just 2 things to add:

Be careful as to what store in your garage (house) insurance might not cover you if you are storing prohibited chemicals.

Seriously consider a sprinkler system if you have a large garage and you do questionable work. It will be a requirement here in MA soon (it is already for a multi family units).   

[81Blackbird]

A sprinkler system would be good on ordinary combustibles only.  Flammable liquids and electrical not so much.  ABC fire extinguisher would take care of all 3, but then you have the corrosive chemical to deal with. You can have an emergency electrical breaker and that would solve another element. But you still would have the flammable liquids to deal with. 

Expensive but cheaper than redoing the car. 

https://www.uline.com/Product/Detail/S-24438/Fire-Protection/Halotron-Fire-Extinguisher-5-lb?pricode=WC1781&gadtype=pla&id=S-24438&gclid=CjwKCAjwtp2bBhAGEiwAOZZTuCxXqR8L23tUli2wfsrFBgOi2FecuecdM5xQ6Arwg3ukbzCpASvv8hoCTR0QAvD_BwE

OR

https://www.uline.com/Product/Detail/S-24438/Fire-Protection/Halotron-Fire-Extinguisher-5-lb?pricode=WC1781&gadtype=pla&id=S-24438&gclid=CjwKCAjwtp2bBhAGEiwAOZZTuCxXqR8L23tUli2wfsrFBgOi2FecuecdM5xQ6Arwg3ukbzCpASvv8hoCTR0QAvD_BwE

[roadking77]

They talked for years about making sprinklers code in our county. I was against it. Then the newly elected head of council happened to also be a career firefighter so the code took effect. All new dwellings have them. My fears were not realized, existing homes without did not decrease in value, etc., etc. Biggest issue we have is, being a mostly rural county a large storage tank is required. Installation cost is also very high. I am still on the fence with them. They had been required in multi family dwellings for years.