[GSBN] fire fighting procedures and bale dipping trays

[andy at ecodesignarchitects.co.za]

Here in South Africa fire procedure is to exterminate all signs of fire....which
means they would likly bash a straw bale wall down to ensure the fire was
properly extinguished. I know this because of the terrible fate that became the
2nd straw bale house I ever designed and helped build. The owner who was project
mangaging the house had fired 3 workers early on in the project. The night the
owner had just finished the project with the installation of the solar hot
water heating system, back to the city she took off from her new holiday house
not knowing she would never see the house again. On that very night around
3:00am the disgruntled workers struck, pouring petrol under the caravan and
setting fire to the thatch roof . Needless to say the thatch roof caused an
inferno of note, that it woke the distant neighbours with the brightness of the
fire. This was around 4:00am. The roof was burning from each end towards the
middle. When the fire brigade finally arrived from the neighbouring town at
6:00am nothing was left of the house except the walls! However, there were pole
support posts burried inside and these had burnt down into the walls. Because it
was still quite dark, the posts glowed through the plaster. So the firemen
promptly set about knocking the walls down so that they could get to the
embers. This released most of the straw which only then ignited. Years later
another neighbour overheard the workers boasting at how they had burnt that
house.

On a much brighter note, (excuse the pun) I just ran another sucessful strawbale
workshop using the dipping or cob baling process. We converted some braaing
(barbeque)trays for the slip, which worked a treat, being wide enough for
people to work all around while being able to keep ones back straight. 
For any interested in pictures of the process, I will be posting a link under
our latest news to some pictures on our web site shortly i.e.
www.ecodesignarchitects.co.za   

cheers Andy Horn

Quoting Mark Piepkorn <mark at buildinggreen.com>:

> 
> From: Robert Riversong <turningtide at ponds-edge.net>
> 
> >>The fire started in the crawlspace of the stick-framed addition and 
> >>burned most of the wood structure before moving into the SB part of 
> >>the house.  He claims that all the foam had a part in intensifying 
> >>the blaze (by keeping all the heat inside, and by off gassing), but 
> >>I'm not sure about that.  (anyone?)
> >
> >
> >Absolutely. The first thing we do at a structure fire is ventilate 
> >the building to release superheated air (a structure fire can 
> >quickly rise to 3500F. Foam, particularly if it's treated with 
> >fire-resistant chemicals, will prevent a fire from self-ventilating 
> >and will contain the superheated air. It can raise the heat to many 
> >thousands of degrees in a very short time and can cause a flashover 
> >as the surface burns off, producing very toxic fumes and quickly 
> >spreading the fire to other combustibles.
> >
> >While spray urethane foam will generally not support fire on its 
> >own, if fueled by wood or other combustibles it can dramatically 
> >accelerate a fire. Of course, the well-insulated and relatively 
> >fire-proof bale walls would also contain and accelerate the fire.
> >
> >
> >>Erik thinks the fire crew may have knocked the SB walls down.  (I 
> >>don't know much about fire-fighting procedures, but that seems 
> >>pretty reasonable to assume... for safety reasons.
> >
> >
> >It's possible that the collapsing roof kicked some of the walls out 
> >and the collapsing floor may have done so as well. But it's also 
> >likely that the fire fighters would have dismantled the bales to 
> >make sure that there was no hidden smoldering fire - much as they 
> >wwould do at a hay barn fire.
> 
> 
> 
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