Butane torch blamed in Chelsea Place fire on The Murfreesboro Post

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Butane torch blamed in Chelsea Place fire

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By: Lisa Marchesoni

Posted: Wednesday, January 21, 2009 2:19 pm

Don’t use open flame butane torches to thaw frozen water pipes.

That’s the message from Assistant Fire Marshal Carl Peas of Murfreesboro Fire Department.

When Friday’s temperatures dipped to single digits, maintenance workers using butane torches to thaw frozen water pipes at Chelsea Place apartments, the fire department reported. The flames caused a fire resulting in $50,000 damage to four apartments on Bradyville Pike.

The apartments sustained moderate water and smoke damage.

Also, a resident used a butane torch to thaw pipes at his Carver Avenue home. The flame burned insulation and dryer lint under his home.

“Never use open flames” to thaw frozen water pipes, Peas said. An open flame used on copper pipes could catch a structure on fire. “Once it gets into the wall, you can’t see it. The fire can run up the wall to the attic.”

Peas recommended taking preventive measures instead.

For example, pipes in some older homes are located on outside walls. Repeat problems indicate the pipes need to be insulated.

“That’s where you tend to have problems if they’re not insulated properly,” Peas said.

Use Underwriters Laboratories approved heat tape or heat cable to spiral around the pipe and plug it in to insulate a water pipe, he said.

“For future protection, consider relocating exposed pipes to provide protection form freezing,” Peas said. “Add insulation to the basement, attic and crawl spaces.”

When temperatures get into the low teens or single digits, let the faucet drip slowly for constantly moving water. If a bathroom is located on an exterior wall, open cabinet doors to get more heat under the cabinets to prevent frozen pipes.

Disconnect water hoses outside the home.

Close foundation vents to keep a warmer temperature under the house.

Keep the thermostat at 55 degrees if leaving the house for a long period of time during the winter.

If the pipes do freeze, Peas said the pipes break when thawing. If people know the exact place where the freeze occurs, they may use a hair dryer to thaw the pipe or call a plumber.

Besides the pipes, Peas recommended residents be especially careful of space heaters and kerosene heaters.

Space heaters and wall heaters should have a 3-foot space away from furniture and other items that will burn.

Open a window a little to ventilate the carbon monoxide if using a kerosene heater.

If the power goes out, use flashlights instead of candles.

And clean chimneys in warmer weather to prevent creosote buildup that causes chimney fires.

For more information, call the Fire Marshal’s office at 893-1422.

Tagged under FIRE

Member Opinions:

By: titansone on 1/21/09
A butane torch did not burn these apartments. Dumb people did. Remember, when torches are outlawed, only outlaws will have torches!

By: ntheknow on 1/21/09
Ironically, the incident at Chelsea Place cured the roach problem...