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This is probably a good time to share our recent fire story. Like
the CO fire, it started due to "operator error" in unusual
circumstances. But it has a happier ending, as it was mostly
confined to a workshop and some old sheds with few irreplaceable things.
Thanks to some quick thinking on Pete's part, a lot of water from our
valiant volunteer fire department, and perhaps some good karma, it
involved our Lodge (B&B) very minimally. And we were
insured.<br><br>
<b><u>The strawbale lesson learned:</u></b> In the dark of night,
while fire fighters aimed hoses at the burning wood-framed workshop and
sheds, fire crept along the log beams that supported a roof connecting
the shed with the Lodge. The log beams terminated into an exterior
straw-bale "wrap" - that we had installed around a cold corner
of the stone and brick structure.<br><br>
About 3AM, as the volunteer fire fighters were wrapping up their hoses, a
flashlight illuminated a bit of smoke curling up from where a log
penetrated the strawbale wall. Pete & I knew right away the
straw was probably smoldering inside the wall. He climbed up a
ladder and started hammering off the stucco at that spot (fortunately, no
stucco wire hindered him.)<br><br>
Reaching into the wall with a gloved hand, he pulled out many handfuls of
shiny yellow straw, and a bit of charred stuff. <br>
We also climbed around the attic to get as close as possible, squirting
water from a hose hooked up to the water heater drain down into the
ceiling and wall. Fortunately the fire was not in the ceiling and
was confined to smoldering straw...<br><br>
Then something a fire fighter (who later turned out to be the fire
marshal) said triggered an idea: He said, "Feel the wall on
the inside... is it hot?" Yes it was, and there was a
particular place where it was warmer than anywhere else. The light
bulb went on in Pete's head and he located a handy tool that can be
bought at any hardware store, and Radio Shack for about $25 (or
less): A non-contact thermometer. Aim it at anything and it
will tell you the temperature.<br><br>
We told the firefighters they could go home (though they left us a truck
and a hose hooked up if we were to need it.)<br><br>
On the inside, with the non-contact thermometer, I could pinpoint exactly
where the smoldering was, and yell out the window to Pete who was pulling
straw and a small amount of charred straw out of the wall. When he
got it all, which didn't take long, the temperature of the wall rapidly
went down (fortunately it was a cool night.) We could breath easier
then. He stayed up the rest of the night monitoring the wall with
the non-contact thermometer, inside and out, to make sure there was no
more smoldering in the wall. <br><br>
The result - water in the strawbale wall damaged the interior finish, and
took a while to dry out. We still haven't fixed the hole in the
stucco (it's in the back and doesn't show), but it is quite
repairable. We'll stuff it with more straw because it's not even as
big as a bale.<br><br>
What would we do differently? Try not to put water into the
wall. If anything, the old-fashioned fire extinguishers with
powder, might have helped without damaging the straw. <br><br>
What did we learn that is worth sharing? A non-contact thermometer
is a pretty handy tool to have on-hand. Naturally in a big fire it
wouldn't be helpful. But in this type of circumstance, it made a huge
difference. We could pinpoint the fire, and did not have to take
the whole wall down just to be sure the smoldering fire was out.
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I hope this idea proves helpful to others in the future.<br><br>
<x-sigsep><p></x-sigsep>
Sincerely,<br>
Catherine Wanek<br>
Co-director<br>
Builders Without Borders<br>
<mail@builderswithoutborders.org><br>
<a href="http://www.builderswithoutborders.org/" eudora="autourl">
www.builderswithoutborders.org<br>
</a>575-895-5400</body>
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