Posted on 06/01/2009 6:06:21 AM PDT by Daffynition
Two backyard sheds and a metal container in which ammunition was stored caught fire and exploded Sunday in a Reseda neighborhood, forcing the evacuation of nearby homes, authorities said.
The fire and explosion were reported at 8:43 a.m. in the 19200 block of Ingomar Street. It took firefighters about 90 minutes to extinguish the blaze. No injuries were reported.
Crews had to douse the flames from about 50 feet away because ammunition continued to go off, said Los Angeles Fire Department spokeswoman D'Lisa Davies. According to arriving firefighters, Davies said, it "sounded like thousands of rounds were going off."
Five homes were evacuated. Davies said that the sheds and the container were a short distance from a single-family home and that the owner was on the scene and cooperating with authorities.
[snip]
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
The limits I was referring to are “fire code” based.
What you hear when a live round cooks off is the explosive detonation of the powder in the casing. The force of the detonation has nowhere to go but through the mouth, as it was designed. This would cause the projectile, in effect, to fire. Due to the lack of uniform heat distribution produced by a fire, it is likely that most of the “thousands of rounds” of ammunition would have detonated this way, producing many stray bullets.
If the popping sounds they heard were in fact live ammo, there may be several mitigating factors:
1) The eyewitness may have grossly overreported the number of rounds he heard;
2) the ammunition may have been stored in a concrete shed, like a blockhouse, that would have contained the force of the bullets without allowing them to penetrate;
3) the ammunition may have been kept in cans inside metal lockers of safes, which would have the same effect.
I think these are possible but unlikely scenarios.
As for “cracking down on it”, there are no laws against stockpiling ammunition. I currently have well over several thousand rounds (how’s that for vague?) stored in several secure locations.
How does a fire consuming someone’s ammunition stockpile result in the opportunity for an “I-told-you-so” in your mind? Have you been vigorously campaigning for limitations on how much ammunition one can buy?
The International Fire Code (IFC) is widely adopted (my conservative county in a conservative state has adopted it).
Chapter 33 relates to explosives and fireworks.
http://www2.rigov.org/pdf/inspections/2003InternationCodes/2003InternationalFireCode.pdf
It exempts the following from its rules:
The possession, storage, and use of not more than 1
pound (0.454 kg) of commercially manufactured
sporting black powder, 20 pounds (9 kg) of smokeless
powder and 10,000 small arms primers for hand loading
of small arms ammunition for personal consumption.
and
The possession, storage and use of small arms ammunition
when packaged in accordance with DOTn
packaging requirements.
(But that is not to say that anything more than this is prohibited or regulated.)
Important definitions:
SMALL ARMS AMMUNITION. A shotgun, rifle or pistol
cartridge and any cartridge for propellant-actuated devices.
This definition does not include military ammunition containing
bursting charges or incendiary, trace, spotting or pyrotechnic
projectiles.
SMALL ARMS PRIMERS. Small percussion-sensitive explosive
charges, encased in a cap, used to ignite propellant
powder.
SMOKELESS PROPELLANTS. Solid propellants, commonly
referred to as smokeless powders, used in small arms
ammunition, cannons, rockets, propellant-actuated devices
and similar articles.
Section 3306 relates to Small Arms Ammunition
3306.4.1 Black powder and smokeless propellants. Propellants
for personal use in quantities not exceeding 20
pounds (9 kg) of black powder or 20 pounds (9 kg) of
smokeless powder shall be stored in original containers in
occupancies limited to Group R-3. Smokeless powder in
quantities exceeding 20 pounds (9 kg) but not exceeding 50
pounds (23 kg) kept in a wooden box or cabinet having walls
of at least 1 inch (25 mm) nominal thickness shall be
allowed to be stored in occupancies limited to Group R-3.
Quantities exceeding these amounts shall not be stored in
any Group R occupancy.
3306.4.2 Small arms primers. No more than 10,000 small
arms primers shall be stored in occupancies limited to
Group R-3.
(Group R-3 represents a normal house, as opposed to a hotel or apartment.)
I’m glad I’m not the only one who was thinking that.
Love his show on XM40/Sirius16.
Neighbors were evacuated through the use of reverse-911 due to fears of exploding ammunition in the home, said Cpl. Craig Kern of the Larimer County Sheriff's Department. ... At 4:22 p.m., the chief in command put the firefighters in a defensive mode because it was too dangerous for them to be inside the structure, he said. Campanella said it was believed that Albertus kept ammunition and gunpowder in the home.
Where did I say it was a government conspiracy?
It was implied by your response to “calls for limits” in #3. There are limits, but for marketing reasons, not “public safety”.
Nope. Cook off rounds (at least those that don't involve explosive oridnance) don't generate enough force to do much damage. Was a test done a number of years ago on energy from cook offs, and none were able to penetrate a fireman's call out coat.
;>)
I looked in there for “R-2” dwellings (apartments); couldn’t find any mention.
Did you see it anywhere?
R.I.P. ammo and supplies.
All my loaded ammo and reloading supplies are stored in my Liberty fire rated Gunsafe. Nothing else in that safe. Just ammo. Rated at 8 hrs of worst case fire.
All other valuables in second safe of same design.
When I was a teen we would throw .22 cartridges into the huge fireplace at my friend's parent's summercamp in the big lodge room. Not that we thought it was a genius idea, but it just made loud popping noises, and nobody died.
Don't you mean like 8 primers and 5000 pounds of powder ?
“How does a fire consuming someone’s ammunition stockpile result in the opportunity for an “I-told-you-so” in your mind? Have you been vigorously campaigning for limitations on how much ammunition one can buy?”
Because all you need is a few stories like this and then comes the popular outcry for “more laws”. Not that hard to see, is it?
And as a shooter I resent your questioning regarding campaigning for limitations...
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