[GSBN] Straw Bale House Fire

[martin hammer]

I agree entirely with Derek's most recent analysis.

Regarding the newspaper reporting of this fire, I'll pass on another news
report that Don Fisher found.  It continues the idea that the owner using a
torch in the crawl space set the fire. The owner's mother says (through Mark
Piepkorn's e-mail) that her son was not in the crawl space.  That the torch
with malfunctioning valve was left in the crawl space, with flame out but
gas still flowing, until a pilot light or electronic ignition spark from a
nearby water heater flash-ignited the accumulated gas.  (I'd say it's a good
thing her son wasn't in the crawl space at the time, and assume he didn't
know he left a leaking gas canister there.)  All that said, for our purposes
I don't think it matters which of these is correct.

The article from Don does add another interesting and very ironic piece of
information regarding the owner:

Martin,
The guy's house that burned to the ground was a fire fighter. Do you think
we need to get some training out to fire fighters?
Don


Officials:  Firefighter set home ablaze with blowtorch
By Heath Urie
Friday, March 27, 2009

LYONS, Colo. ‹ A home in rural Boulder County burned to the ground Friday
morning after the volunteer firefighter who lives there accidentally ignited
the house with a blowtorch, officials said.

The blaze broke out about 8:30 a.m. at 3955 Conifer Hill Road near the town
of Allenspark.

Boulder County Sheriff¹s Cmdr. Rick Brough said the owner, Erik Akia, was
using a gas blowtorch to try and thaw pipes under the house in a crawl space
when he accidentally caught the building on fire.

Akia¹s wife and four children were inside the house at the time, but escaped
unharmed. Akia and his wife were taken to a hospital in Estes Park because
of possible smoke inhalation, Brough said.

The fire spread quickly through the house, which was constructed of hay
bales and mud, Brough said.  A work shed next to the house also caught fire
and burned to the ground, he said.  Akia won¹t face any charges, according
to the sheriff¹s office.

³It¹s non-criminal, because he set his own property on fire,² Brough said.

Jeff Kolen, a firefighter with the Allenspark Fire Department, confirmed
Akia is a volunteer with the department. He declined to say how long Akia
has been a firefighter.

Kay Lane, who owns property near the site of the fire, said news of the
blaze hit close to home.

³Everybody in an area like that gets so close,² she said.  She said Akia and
his family live in the rural area throughout the year, and that getting
through the mountain roads can be difficult.  ³Usually, we can¹t get into
our cabin this time of year,² she said.

Sheriff¹s officials said snow from Thursday¹s blizzard hampered efforts to
reach the fire.  Snow plows had to be sent in front of firefighters from
Allenspark, Lyons, Indian Peaks and Left Hand Canyon to clear a path to the
blaze, officials said.  It took firefighters 25 minutes to reach the house,
Brough said.


On 4/2/09 4:44 PM, "Derek Roff" <derek at unm.edu> wrote:

> There are several problems with the anecdotal information around this
> event.  One is that according to the mother of the homeowner, quoted by
> Mark Piepkorn, most of the details published in the press are wrong.
> Presumably, anecdotes in the press will have more impact than more
> accurate information shared on a small scale.
> 
> The mother says that the stick frame part of the structure lasted about
> 15 minutes, while the strawbale section lasted for hours.  I think this
> difference in wall survival times points up a problem that is likely to
> distort most anecdotal descriptions- comparisons will be made between
> very different fires and different stages of the fire.  When someone
> from the Boulder County Rural Fire Department says that stick frame is
> easy, because you just peel off the drywall or siding, and don't harm
> the structural members, that sounds like it would have had to be within
> the first fifteen minutes of the fire we are discussing.  When this
> person says that the bales were a pain in the butt, these are bales
> that are still standing after some hours of a hot fire.  According to
> the mother's description.
> 
> So the person from the fire department is mentally equating his
> previous experience with stick frame fires, handled very soon after the
> fire breaks out, with a smoldering strawbale wall that had lasted
> through much more severe conditions.  The SB wall probably had little
> or no damage at 15 minutes, in this fire.  But this anecdotal reaction
> is normal.  A firefighter will think about the problems that they face
> in differing circumstances, not controlled comparisons in equal
> conditions.
> 
> Firefighters have a tough job in so many ways.  They use very
> destructive methods to stop very destructive fires. They want to make
> sure that every spark is dead out.  It's dangerous to do otherwise.
> They have been trained to fight fires in houses very different from
> strawbale.  The smoldering straw in a strawbale wall allows time for a
> considered, nuanced approach.  In the cases that David and Catherine
> described, the smoldering straw could be dealt with hours or days
> later.  Pete removed the smoldering straw by hand.
> 
> The piercing nozzle that Don Fisher describes doesn't sound like the
> subtle tool that I would want to use on my strawbale house.  It looks
> like it would inject a large amount of water quickly into a hotspot
> behind the plaster.  I imagine that this would require the subsequent
> removal and replacement of one bale on each side of the hotspot, and
> all the bales below the hotspot (where gravity will guide the water),
> due to water damage and mold concerns.  This would be pretty
> destructive, especially compared to pulling out a few handfuls of
> charred straw.
> 
> We have lots to test and learn on these questions.
> 
> Derek Roff