Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

UPDATE: Legislator's Wife Injured in Home Explosion
magicvalley.com ^ | 30 September, 2012 | LAURIE WELCH and MELISSA DAVLIN

Posted on 10/01/2012 9:10:46 AM PDT by marktwain

An Idaho state representative’s wife was injured Saturday after a room converted to a gun safe exploded at her home.

Amy Wood, wife of Rep. Fred Wood, R-Burley, was taken by air ambulance to an unspecified Utah hospital suffering from second-degree burns to her face and hands.

The incident occurred at 8:11 p.m., according to Burley Fire Chief Keith Martin. On Saturday evening, Martin said the owners of the home at 100 S. 147 E. were eating dinner when “they heard a sound like a 747 coming from the basement.”


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events; US: Idaho
KEYWORDS: banglist; fire; home; id
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041 next last
To: marktwain
Anybody suspect black powder?

Real black powder can be sensitive to shock or crushing especially if old.

21 posted on 10/01/2012 9:49:54 AM PDT by Navy Patriot (Join the Democrats, it's not Fascism when WE do it, and the Constitution and law mean what WE say.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ltc8k6

Poorly written indeed. I even went to the site and read it. That never helped.


22 posted on 10/01/2012 9:58:58 AM PDT by Lurkina.n.Learnin (Ignorance is bliss- I'm stoked)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: marktwain
"a room converted to a gun safe"

Must be nice. Maybe we should get politically connected to get around some of those regulations to obtain some of that pork from federal funding, too, eh? ;-)

Intelligent Investing Panel
Going Great Guns
Forbes
David Serchuk, 04.23.09
"Thomas:...But, you know, you could always find another job that would pay all right, and pay slightly above minimum wage, could allow you to at least live and have a home in most communities. And I think that's slowly changed."
[...]
"Forbes: I was in Colorado, and I knew people who had 200, 300 guns. And they'd stash them in various hidden places around their compound. This wasn't all that uncommon out west."
[...]
"Sonders:...we have gone from a couple decades ago being a manufacturing economy to more of a service-oriented, information economy. That has just displaced permanently a lot of workers,..."

"Lifestyles of the rich and famous."

[Little humor there. I like my life just the way it is and don't envy those folks one bit. Just stop pointing at my insignificant redneck, prior enlisted service kind and dishonestly call us potential threats.]


23 posted on 10/01/2012 10:33:15 AM PDT by familyop ("Wanna cigarette? You're never too young to start." --Deacon, "Waterworld")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ltc8k6
Water heater maybe?

A standalone water heater that "explodes" usually breaks at the bottom, creating a missile fully capable of going through a couple of floors and a roof.

The Mythbusters did a piece on it. The invention of the pressure relief valve probably saved thousands of lives of homeowners alone, not to mention some subset of pedestrians once the water heaters came back down.

24 posted on 10/01/2012 10:40:39 AM PDT by Calvin Locke
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: marktwain

Most likely a gas explosion.


25 posted on 10/01/2012 10:52:48 AM PDT by buffaloguy
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: marktwain

Probably a gradual heat buildup by something else burning in a closed room and slowly increasing the room temperature to enough of an extreme. Enough cartridges popping at once could make a funny roar in a nearby room instead of distinct pops. Ammunition storage should be ventilated at least a little to avoid tight containment of pressure.

Avoid storing that stuff in a space shared with a flame (water heater, lights, electrical appliances without circuit covers, etc.). For outbuildings (e.g., shop), build a tough steel cabinet with steel doors that are *not* airtight for small amounts of ammunition and/or handloading supplies (capped top vent preferred). Build another one for paints, solvents, etc. Isolate far from welding rigs, heaters and the like.

Take it from military practices. Any who store very much ammunition (common for some competitors or anyone who like to fire unusually large amounts of ammunition) would be better off building a safer, ventilated (e.g., capped pipe on top), concrete box for it outdoors and in the ground. Ammunition can be sealed in airtight containers that won’t contain combustion too much (plastics, very thin metals, etc.). Same for anyone who stores much fuel. I don’t need to store much of either (not a match competitor for now and don’t use much fuel around the place) but would build safer, separate, outdoor facilities for it, if I did.

Ammunition won’t “blow up” much, if it’s not tightly and heavily sealed, although large quantities of it burning can cause burns, scare fire-persons, etc. (heh, heh...”firepersons” instead of “firefighters”).


26 posted on 10/01/2012 11:03:15 AM PDT by familyop ("Wanna cigarette? You're never too young to start." --Deacon, "Waterworld")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: marktwain

1. Modern gnpowder burns slowly if set on fire with a match and not enclosed in a breech. The higher the pressure in the breech, the faster it burns and releases gas.
At atmosperic pressure it burns rather slowly.

A bullet that cooks off in a fire will travel about ten feet and bouce off of you skin. The amount of pressure required to remove a bullet from a cartidge case is about 60 lbs.

Age seems to have little effect on ammo.

Any problems with age and how ammo is stored will result in a failure to fire rather than a bigger explosion.

Blackpowder is not effected by by age whatsoever. 200 or 300 year old black powder is as manufactured. There are a number of cases in which very old black powder was tested and it was found to be the same as the day it was manufactured.

If black powder is wet it can be dried out and used without any problems.

A number of companies have tried to develop electrically fired black powder guns and static electricity is not sufficient to set it off because black powder is electrically conductive and it absorbs the charge like a sponge. I have seen test results with 40,000 volts (it will burn you) of static electricity and the results are nothing. Nada.

The problem with dynamite is only with very old dynamite, 1900 or so. The newer stuff is quite stable.


27 posted on 10/01/2012 11:19:55 AM PDT by buffaloguy
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Gaffer

We agree on nearly everything. I have seen corrosion caused by leather. Often leather has lots of salts in the tanning process.

I think it is worth diferentiating between the degradation of ammunition and the potential for detonation.

It is my educated opinion that modern propellants will only detonate if they are improperly stored in a strong pressure vessel.


28 posted on 10/01/2012 11:34:30 AM PDT by marktwain
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: familyop

Excellent post, thank you.


29 posted on 10/01/2012 11:36:54 AM PDT by marktwain
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 26 | View Replies]

To: buffaloguy

TNT and mercury fulminate probably aren’t so stable with age.


30 posted on 10/01/2012 11:43:18 AM PDT by Cvengr (Adversity in life and death is inevitable. Thru faith in Christ, stress is optional.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 27 | View Replies]

To: buffaloguy
Excellent post. If you add a bit of amperage to the voltage you can electrically set off black powder easily.

I made some electrically fired muzzle-loaders 30 years ago.

31 posted on 10/01/2012 11:47:28 AM PDT by marktwain
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 27 | View Replies]

To: marktwain
Very good response. Each of your comments was accurate and spot on. There is very little of that with respect to ammunition topics on FR. Too many of the ill informed gun nuts here spread their nonsense with such certainty.

The amateurs are easy to spot. The first clue is when they describe cartridges as "bullets", but the most revealing are those that use incorrect cartridge designations. They are happy to use layman invented cartridge names or one that has been obsolete since prior to World War II.

But then, their entire 'education' about ammunition and guns was acquired by reading the gun magazines. Little do they know that the gun writers educated themselves by reading each other's tripe. Ignorance is bliss.

32 posted on 10/01/2012 11:50:53 AM PDT by Buffalo Head (Illigitimi non carborundum)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: Cvengr

TNT hasn’t been used for almost 100 years.

Amytol is its replacement, and it is stable.


33 posted on 10/01/2012 11:54:35 AM PDT by editor-surveyor (Freepers: Not as smart as I'd hoped they'd be)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 30 | View Replies]

To: Calvin Locke

Yes, I’ve seen both of their shows on water heater explosions.
The steam will quickly burn any exposed skin.


34 posted on 10/01/2012 1:41:57 PM PDT by ltc8k6
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 24 | View Replies]

To: marktwain

“Martin said the explosion from the room lifted up the patio slab at the back of the home and collapsed the patio roof. Martin said the patio slab appeared to be the roof of the gun safe room. Amy Wood was on the patio when the explosion occurred.”

So, she apparently had nothing to do with the cause of the explosion.

http://magicvalley.com/news/local/legislator-s-wife-in-good-condition-after-explosion-at-home/article_53563e48-0b54-11e2-8351-001a4bcf887a.html


35 posted on 10/01/2012 1:47:24 PM PDT by ltc8k6
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ltc8k6

“Amy Wood was on the back patio, which sits directly over the weapons room. When the room exploded, the concrete slab she was standing on collapsed into the gun safe below. “

http://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/index.ssf/2012/10/gun_room_explosion_injures_ida.html


36 posted on 10/01/2012 1:48:09 PM PDT by ltc8k6
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 35 | View Replies]

To: buffaloguy

So why don’t they add steel wool shavings as a booster? It seems that bridge the gap.


37 posted on 10/01/2012 9:07:19 PM PDT by willyd (Don't shoot, we're Republicans!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 27 | View Replies]

To: willyd

It seems that would bridge the gap rather.


38 posted on 10/01/2012 9:08:00 PM PDT by willyd (Don't shoot, we're Republicans!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 37 | View Replies]

To: marktwain

“If you add a bit of amperage to the voltage you can electrically set off black powder easily.”

How much would you step amperage? The test I saw had a ovlt rating but no amperage. The tool used to generate the static electricity is used to test neon lights for leaks and it look impressive as heck.


39 posted on 10/02/2012 8:45:42 AM PDT by buffaloguy
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 31 | View Replies]

To: buffaloguy
I used the glow plugs that are designed for model airplane engines. So, you could state that the electricity heated the glow plug element, and that is what set off the black powder.

The current from 4 AA batteries was plenty and was quite reliable, until the corrosion from the black powder weakened the glow plug.

Ignition occurred in some fraction of a second. I would guess maybe .25 to .5 seconds.

40 posted on 10/02/2012 9:46:16 AM PDT by marktwain
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 39 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson