Posted on 08/20/2012 5:50:50 PM PDT by cripplecreek
NAPOLEON TWP., MI -- A man using a solder iron Monday afternoon to work on his vehicle accidentally caught the pole barn he was working in on fire, destroying it and its contents.
Dick Atkins of Napoleon Township said he was working in a pole barn at his home on Cady Road on Monday trying to change a Buick into an electric vehicle.
Capt. Nate Michael of the Napoleon Township Fire Department said Atkins told him the iron became hot in his hands, he threw it down and tried to kick it away. A fire started, and Atkins called 911.
Michael said when crews from the Napoleon, Columbia, Manchester and Grass Lake township fire departments arrived shortly after 2:30 p.m., the pole barn was fully involved.
The fire destroyed the barn and its contents, including the Buick and a 2005 Town and Country and three lawn mowers.
Michael said it appeared some of the items in the garage helped contribute to the fire quickly spreading. It took crews about 15 minutes to extinguish the fire.
The fire did minimal damage to the home at 10536 Cady Road, melting some of the siding and cracking a double-pane window.
I was down the entire length of Cady road today about 3:15 and missed it somehow.
My neighbors are starting to scare me.
“NO MORE CARBON CREDITS FOR YOU!”
Protecting the environmentz, ur doing it wrng.
(Actually I do the same outside in the winter for exactly the same reasons - it's also good practice to keep a fire extinguisher or two handy (and yes, I've put out some underhood car fires)).
I’m betting he try picking the iron up without looking......
Oops, looks like the pole barn approach survived, hope they weren’t expensive lawn mowers.
I feel sorry for the guy.
He apparently was doing it the right way, with his own money.
Although electric cars are a fools errand, I wish him well.
Gosh, it was never this exciting when I was growing up there, not even on race weekends!
Well it was race weekend.
I stopped at Borchard Bros on the way home from the vet and came back to Norvell by way of Cady rd because I didn’t want to try getting out on 50 from Napoleon rd.
Do they still come thru Napoleon? I thought they were trying to route them down 127 to 12.
America don't need him around anyhow... the only sad thing was the guitars burning
I don’t understand how a soldering iron could start a fire, especially so quickly. All the soldering irons I’ve ever used (dozens) wouldn’t start a fire, unless you were really, really trying.
I’m guessing the writer just doesn’t know what she’s talking about and it probably wasn’t a soldering iron.
They seem to change the route for every race. I just stay out of the way if I’m not going to the race.
>> “I don’t understand how a soldering iron could start a fire” <<
.
If it was a large iron that he was heating in a forge.
>> “I’m guessing the writer just doesn’t know what she’s talking about and it probably wasn’t a soldering iron.” <<
.
A prestolite torch?
I’m guessing the writer just doesn’t know what she’s talking about and it probably wasn’t a soldering iron.
Sounds more like using silver solder and a torch
You must not have played with some of those pistol irons, with the transformer that makes up the bulk of the iron.
I have had several of those go super hot -— fire hot -— on me. Comes from pushing them over their duty-cycle. The radio shack and lowe’s weller types are notorious for overheating, melting the insulation, and going off the deep end.
If you drop one in a fuel rich environment, it doesn’t matter if the power is off, the iron cores will store enough heat to kindle up a good blaze.
Not in response to norwaypinesavage.... but to many others here condemning the guy:
While I know that electric cars are not a viable solution to our oil consumption (with current energy storage tech), why are people here condemning a guy for experimenting in his garage? That is truly pathetic the attitude, especially considering people here claim to be anti-big-government. Would you stop him from experimenting just because you like oil? I seriously doubt he was working from a government grant, he was just experimenting with an idea on his own.
Accidents happen to us all.
If you think it is “too bad, so sad” he was a loser because he was experimenting with electric transportation, you don’t deserve to be called conservative, you just want to be a nanny, just differently from the evil Left. I call you out for what you are: Evil.
The guy had an accident, panicked, and lost several cars, including his test mule. His insurance, not the government, will take care of things if he has been paying his premium.
Geez, some of the people commenting here irk me — you guys are just nannies yourselves, who can’t see yourself as such, because someone “from the other side” has been trying to impact your own rights.
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