Home depot fire in San Jose 1

[Retiredat46]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_XFtUw3CPA

https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/crews-battle-fire-at-home-depot-in-south-san-jose/2859472/

Obviously there's a lot of flammable stuff in a Home Depot store, but wouldn't they take that into consideration when designing the building fire protection systems? What could have gone so terribly wrong?

 

[dik]

Looks dead... you often find that green coloured lichens on trees up in northern Canada. I think it's referred to as 'old green paint'.

Rather than think climate change and the corona virus as science, think of it as the wrath of God. Do you feel any better?

-Dik

 

[Retiredat46]

It's actually a very healthy tree, and it's almost one hundred feet tall. I've got a semi-permanent cambium saver over a crotch at eighty-five feet so my climbing rope won't damage the tree. Being an active recreational tree climber at age 76 is rather unusual. The climbing itself is good exercise, and all the other exercise I do to keep in shape for climbing is good, too.

I'm really anxious to see what the investigation into the Home Depot fire turns up, but I expect it'll take a couple weeks. It doesn't seem like tight horizontal stacks of drywall, plywood, or lumber would catch fire easily or be hard to put out. Loosely arranged vertical pieces of shelving boards and trim would catch easily and burn quickly, though.

 

[itsmoked]

It's my understanding and looking at my trees lichen is a sign of tree decrepitude coming on.

HD seems odd.. How have they not had other fires in HDs yet none have 'exploded' into conflagrations. And I agree, of all the sections in a HD the lumber one would probably be the least likely to ignite. There are no heat sources or even electrical runs anywhere in the lumber zone.

Gotta say some of the recent HD employees I've run into seem like people you really should NOT have working for you. Recent guy in electrical was stupid as a pile of dirt, slow, argumentative, nasty, and angry. He took 1-1/4 hours to get me 3 custom wire lengths cut coiled and labeled(wrong). I could see a jerk like him starting a fire to get a week off or unemployment.

Keith Cress
kcress -

http://www.flaminsystems.com

 

[SnTMan]

They're probably lucky to have him these days

The problem with sloppy work is that the supply FAR EXCEEDS the demand

 

[dik]

The spongy type of lichen can promote brown rot (aka dryrot) where the old green paint is generally dry and doesn't. You often see 'old green paint' lichens on rocks, which don't have much nutrient. It's a symbioiic algae-fungi type of growth. I remember looking at it under a microscope back in grade school times...


No through bolt?

Rather than think climate change and the corona virus as science, think of it as the wrath of God. Do you feel any better?

-Dik

 

[Eufalconimorph]

The paint section is a good candidate for a conflagration starter. Lots of flammable solvents, paint mixing machine, etc.

And of course the tools section is also a possibility. Plenty if lithium batteries, even if not charged they still have the ability to ignite if punctured and can be hard to put out if on fire.

 

[JohnRBaker]

To say nothing of the lumber yard...

John R. Baker, P.E. (ret)
Irvine, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:

The secret of life is not finding someone to live with
It's finding someone you can't live without

 

[IRstuff]

While there is lots of paint, they're all in cans or containers, so unless someone intentionally ignited a container, they're unlikely to start up on their own.

TTFN (ta ta for now)
I can do absolutely anything. I'm an expert!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKorP55Aqvg

faq731-376 forum1529 Entire Forum list

http://www.eng-tips.com/forumlist.cfm

 

[TugboatEng]

The paint is mostly water based. Remember, this is California so our solvents are neutered as well.

Home Depot keeps the valuable products towards the center of the stores. Their paints and power tools. Lots of lithium batteries in the middle of the store.

Vertical racking of plastic tools, wood, and cardboard boxes creates a perfect scenario for propagation. Our recent aversion to halogens lately is a contributing factor.

 

[Retiredat46]

About the lichen on the limbs...Lichen is self-sustaining – it doesn't take any nutrients from the tree, and doesn't harm the tree (although some people consider it unsightly). It gets all of the nutrients it needs from rain and the surrounding air.

And here's the cambium saver/rope guide. It's got stiffeners on the other side to form an inverted U to fit the limb or crotch, and it just hangs in place. I keep a nylon string through it to pull my rope up for climbing. Several have been in place for over two years in yard trees that I climb repeatedly.

According to news reports, the Home Depot store that burned was built in 1977 and last inspected in October of 2021 with no code violations noted. Forty-five years is a long time for a complex system to be in place without a functional test. How do they determine that it will still work in the event of a fire? Will inspectors be able to determine now that it was actually turned on when the fire started?

 

[Cool_Controls]

At 50 years you need to replace the sprinkler heads.

 

[epoxybot]

The most likely source of a fire starting in the lumber department is the waste bin next to the cutting table.

 

[Roga50]

In one of the videos I saw, you FINALLY hear the fire alarm start going off well into the fire. Half of the store seemed on fire (view from the front doors) before the fire alarm started sounding. This wasn't the video that was widely circulating--there was another one from the front doors that somehow just didn't get noticed as much (I forgot where it was on Twtitter, though).

 

[LCREP]

NFPA 25 covers the care and testing of the fire protection equipment. If the sprinkler control valves are open, the fire pump, if they have one is tested and maintained the system will work. Been this way for over 100 years.

Also sprinkler heads are good for 10-50 years depending on the type. After 10-50 years a representative sample based on the sq. ft of the system, is sent to a testing facility ie UL for test. They heat the sprinkler to the rated temperature if they activate you are good for another 10 years. My experience with reviewing 100’s of sprinkler sample reports is they usually pass.

 

[itsmoked]

It gets all of the nutrients it needs from rain and the surrounding air.

I did not know that though I should've guessed since I have several thick healthy patches of it growing on my truck.

Keith Cress
kcress -

http://www.flaminsystems.com

 

[itsmoked]

This is on my dentist's lobby wall. It's 8 by 5 feet.
I asked if they spray it or feed it and was informed they do neither! I can't take my eyes off it until they drag me away. It's quite fabulous.

Keith Cress
kcress -

http://www.flaminsystems.com

 

[TugboatEng]

Looks like the fire was an escalation of our current pandemic of smash and grab robberies in the region.

https://www.mercurynews.com/2022/04...tify-man-accused-of-igniting-home-depot-fire/

It was set as a distraction while the perpetrator tried to run out of the door with a cart full of tools.

 

[SnTMan]

I don't know what to say. This has gotta stop...

The problem with sloppy work is that the supply FAR EXCEEDS the demand

 

[itsmoked]

Oh wow. That's terrible. It does fit with my "nothing to start a fire in lumber" assessment. Burned by thieves..

If you notice all HDs have now locked up everything of value due to grab-and-runs. Our puny little one lost over $1,000,000 in tools last year from shoplifting. They lost almost that much in copper wire since then. I heard the electrical manager explaining to the other workers than groups from the SF bay area came over and they walked in and just carried spools out the door. When called on it they just run. It really has to stop. Five minutes of tasering should do it.


Keith Cress
kcress -

http://www.flaminsystems.com

 

[Retiredat46]

So now the thief will be charged with arson with a loss of at least several tens of millions of dollars. That's a twist I wasn't expecting, but it still doesn't explain how the fire he started managed to consume the entire store.

How large a fire and how long should it take to set off the sprinklers in a building like that? Unless he used some kind of accelerant, it's hard to imagine setting a fire that wouldn't burn for several minutes before the smoke alarms went off and several minutes more before the sprinklers came on.