How an electrical fire starts

As I have mentioned in previous articles I have been working in group homes that where poorly maintained and improperly inspected.
and we had one hell of a scare the day the 6 boys ages 12-16 moved in.

Because the home does not have a central AC system in it they went out and bought individual AC units for each bedroom bad idea as some receptacle wiring is new and some is old and about an hour after the units where started myself and a helper decided to go and cool off in a side sitting room and we noticed a smell of burnt rubber not a good thing. Possibly a bad new AC unit no they all checked OK we then got out a simple heat gun and found that a double switch plate was warm in the sitting room by 20 degrees more than rest of the wall. But How ? both switches where off.
Well it ends up after carefully opening the switch box we found behind it 2 old splices going thru the box feeding other areas in the house which where soldered together and then taped with rubber tape then cloth friction tape. Because the splice was loose this allowed a high resistance connection to occur which caused the heating of the wires Wait a minute Soldered wire splice in a house ? Yes in fact it was a popular way to do it before wire nuts became available and it is still legal to do but where possible mechanical connectors are preferred way to do it.
So what was causing the splice to heat up ? after it was opened it was found that the soldering job was not properly done and it probably would have stayed that way for ever and not been found till the heavy air-conditioning load was put on the home.SO could there be more bad splices and could a fire result? Most definitely any time you subject old wiring to a new heavier load a tragedy is always possible.Is there any way to find and prevent this? Yes number 1# replace all the outlets and switches and make sure all connections are tight to specification 2# there are specialized analyzers which can be plugged into a receptacle that subjects it to several different load tests and will tell you if the receptacle is safe. 3# You could also install the New Arc fault Circuit interrupter breakers which could also help prevent problems in old wiring as well.
Luckily in this case we found it and no one got hurt but had we not been there very well there could have been a fire and some one could have lost there life. Tonight thou some one was watching over them.

These Fire Extinguishers Can Kill

They are now a hot collector piece but back
in the 20-60's these units could be found just about everywhere. They where designed to save lives and put out fires but the could just as well kill you.



Starting with the Brass Badger tip over unit on the right
which was filled with water and had inside a small bottle of acid which would open and cause the water to flow out in a strong stream due to the water and acid mixing. I saw them being used at the Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire Academy in 60's with my Cub Scout pack .
along with a now also no longer used item a rescue net. Back then this was state of the art in putting out trash and wood fires you simply picked unit up and tipped it over.
The problem was with the acid it could over pressurize the container if the hose would become blocked and cause the extinguisher to explode injuring or killing the person using it.
Needless to say it took 40 plus years but they finally banned there use but you can still find full ones sitting around waiting to hurt some one. If you find one of these or any very old unit that feels full take it to local fire hall or fire extinguisher servicing outfit so it can be safely discharged and disposed of or kept as a display model only use.
The Middle and right extinguishers also where designed with the best of intentions to put out fire you sprayed the enclosed chemical and the fire would go out and if you breathed any of it in after it heated up it would kill you with only a couple breathes.
These units where filled with Carbon Tetrachloride. An excellent fire stopper and cleaner of metal which when it comes in contact with heat produces Phosegene also known as Nerve Gas
which can kill instantly. Carbon Tet as it was known in the trade is now a banned substance as it is carcinogenic compound and is no longer produced. Again these units need safely discharged and disposed of and or strictly used as display pieces

So you got to be saying to your self did they not know better making such fire extinguishers back then? Well apparently not and to this day dangerous items are still being produced and recalled all the time because everyone is in a rush to get something to market but not due the required research. its a dam shame but what will be the next recalled deadly item the fire service produces?

By the way if you are a Face Book member come check out my wall I have all kinds of pictures of old Fire and burglar alarm equipment to see.

Who dropped the ball Part 2# Children of a Lesser God

Who Dropped the ball on our at risk Kids? Part 2#

Children of a Lesser God


The second home these at risk kids will be living at started out as a doctors residence which also more than likely the local hospital after examining the place we found it belonged to Dr. at one time. and in days of old around this city there several such small hospitals where workers who were injured in the mills and mines would have been brought. It then became personnel care center in honor who left money for a small dignified personal care home to be set up in his will after he had spent time in poorly maintained nursing homes. they both then became day care centers for small children.
All along handyman where plying there trade day in day out doing all kinds of illegal wiring and plumbing etc. How in the hell where these homes allowed to be day care centers with all these problems? To make matters worse there is no sprinkler or fire alarm protection on the 3rd floor of this home we found records the fire alarms etc where installed around 81 and the personnel care centers opened in 83 there is no main breaker its all fuses and several of the boxes are badly rusted and double tapped and copper and aluminum mixed and 30 amp fuses where only 15 or 20 should be . Which was pointed out to the owner and are to be replaced with proper service and breakers.
Then there's the exiting doors which have no panic hardware just normal knobs which could prevent some one from getting out during an emergency, again how was this allowed? Then there's bedroom doors with double knobs again how was this allowed? No functioning exit or emergency lights all needed there battery's and or bulbs replaced but hey that's OK we will just go ahead and issue the permits. Do any of these inspectors with their heads up there asses ever look in the basement to see just how bad these houses where. apparently not. maybe there afraid of the dark what they might find down there.

Then there is the matter of all the cans and jars of stuff the owners left in the basement any kid could have gotten hold of and poisoned them selves again who inspected these places and who allowed this. Then there's the cute way they fixed a main drain in the basement with a half piece of pipe a block of wood and duct tape.
of course smoke detectors and sprinkler heads under paddle fans or blocked etc. those will work real well the fact they blocked off the one kitchen doors in the galley so you could become trapped by a grease fire and die yes this house is a total nightmare and some one will die. and almost did while myself and helper where working in the house we noticed after they plugged in all the new window air conditioning units as the house has no central AC , a strong rubber smell and in fact using a heat gun found a hot spot in the wall where a splice was overheating and getting ready to catch fire.
The very day the kids moved in. Had we not been there and had it not been caught by the staff there would have been a fire and some one would have died during the night as i doubt the sprinkler system would function properly as it is leaking.
Yes these must be children of a lesser god because no one has cared to do there job as inspectors in the Pittsburgh Ra. region which is turning into Hooterville.
If this house is like this and local fire capt tells me there are plenty more like it around his neighborhood then we have a crisis in the making. You can be assured if any thing happens to these children there will be hell to pay. And I will be more than glad to hand over everything i have to the persecutors and wrongful death attorneys offices.
I have a whole series of pictures up on my Face Book wall you can see look me up and become a friend and see the nightmare these children are facing as I try to get thing corrected and made safe.

Who Dropped the ball when it came time to take care of our At Risk Kids? Everyone- GrandJury File #321

I have these 2 adorable Puggles, Honey and Amber there Beagle and Pug Mix and they kind of just do not like to catch and chase a ball like normal dogs they just drop it and leave it sitting there despite my wife doing her best to teach them . With this in mind that's exactly what recently happened when it came to our At Risk children in a County by me when they where moved into a group home with an old outdated non reporting fire alarm and major plumbing and electrical code violations .
Luckily at last minute they did not move in when they realized the fire alarm was not reporting. But they are in there now and none of the electrical or plumbing issues have been addressed.
Yet the state Dept. of Public Welfare (DPW ) inspector which governs these facility's and the City s Building and Fire Inspectors where supposedly all thru the home and approved occupancy.There's a permit hanging on the wall that everything is in good order.
So how was this allowed to happen? Good question.
This particular program for kids has seen the days when they had enough kids to support a campus dwindle down to a small handful of in house residence kids,because all the funding from federal ,state and county sources has been cut . So they started looking for group homes they could move the kids to. They found 2 existing group homes which where used previously as Personnel Care Homes and had been sitting empty since 2009 which was a good choice but these homes where never kept up to health and safety codes and have numerous pages full of electrical and plumbing code red tag violations none of which any of the state,county or city inspectors ever caught or made mention of in there reports, and they went and issued the occupancy permits with blinders on.
To start with
there's the 30 yr old fire system with bells which are not UL listed and approved to be used on the system. and the Firelite Miniscan 112 panels that's in there have a bad history of failing and not giving an indication of it also there are no tied in smoke detectors on 3rd floor living space or sounders. just 120 VAC with 9 VDC back up battery smokes. The staff if down stairs will never know a child may be in trouble.
The system was not tied into a central station but has since been and they are now after being warned how many times going to upgrade the system.
Then there's the Sprinkler system with no tamper or lock on main water supply valve and a leaking main elbow and the fact DPW inspector made them cover over the sprinkler pipes to keep kids from hanging on them which also effectively blocks the sprinkler heads spray pattern and did I mention the system has not even been tested to see if it works yet the kids are in there.
Then there's the Electrical issues many of them extremely serious including unfastened and incorrectly fastened and overloaded wiring there's all 2 prong plugs all over the place few if any GFCI Ground fault plugs etc etc etc it is a time bomb ready to go off. To make matters worse the home has no central air so they went and bought small plug in air conditioning in everywhere which now overloads and trips the breakers supplying power to the kitchen. add in all the new TV's video games ,computers etc and the electrical load on the house is just inviting problems.
They got away with this dangerous wiring when it had old people in there but now you have active teens a disaster in the making. then there's the plumbing they will be there every week with clean out snakes it is not designed for 8 kids and 4 staff and in many places the gas lines where improperly done with copper pipe instead of flex connectors.
So as you can see everyone dropped the ball the city which has only 3 fire inspectors who are worked to death, now under the building inspection section instead of fire service the DPW inspector who has his head up his ass. and is more worried about paper work and how things look instead of the safety of the kids. and the homes owner the at risk group is renting who just does not give a damn about following rules. Yes it is just a sad situation all around I ask everyone reading this article to say a prayer for these kids tonight because this goes on all over Pa. and many other states. The message is very clear if your poor, old and invalid ,crippled, special needs at risk
We just do not give a F#$K about you. Your a useless eater sad but true.
Hopefully the right thing will be done but no it will not all I will get is more grief trying to protect these kids i have paid a terrible price over the years for demanding the right thing be done being the only one some times to do what is right. But then again maybe that's why God allowed me to survive stage 4 colon cancer
because many people say he has a mission for me maybe this is it. Making sure the kids are safe and the ball is not being dropped. Besides as a Fire and safety expert I am compelled by law to report things. So once again another case file in my grand jury file waiting to be put in a District attorneys and wrongful deaths attorneys hands.
and this file is getting ever bigger and is kept in several places including out of state waiting for the day it will be used against those who will not do the right thing.
Its a damn shame things always have to come to this some one has to die often many people have to die before the right thing is done.

Another Energy Sucking Vampire Killed

This may not look much like a Vampire and menace but for the last 10 years it has been silently sucking power from the electrical grid and doing absolutely nothing .In all it stole $10.00 worth of electric not a lot but when you consider there are often 2-10 or more of these lttile vampires in a business just sitting there sucking small amounts of power and doing nothing it adds up to quite a bit.
to point that energy laws and codes have been passed to have all equipment that uses these little wall wart plug in transformers being built with efficiency in mind.
In this case this voice alerting fax switch which was designed by Rainer Mfg. was used to instruct people to hit the 3# key on there phone so fax machine would accept the call. When fax machines first came on market you had to have a dedicated phone line for them or always be ready to turn them on and off. with this lttile gadget which cost $195.00 at the time you could share a voice line with a fax. when CNC tones became
common on machines that recognized when another machine was calling they became obsolete yet there are still many of them out there buried in computer and phone equipment rooms just sitting there stealing power. like so many other units. No one ever unplugs them and they sit there silently stealing small amounts of power. up to 15% of all power produced is wasted on items like this and this is why it is important they are hunted down and disconnected.

Al Colombo's Safety & Security Blog: Get Your Daily Dose of Security e-News

Al Colombo's Safety & Security Blog: Get Your Daily Dose of Security e-News

Whats wrong with this Pull station? You can not pull it open?

This very old Fire-lite BG Pull Station that was originally part of a 120 volts ac fire alerting system made by Lightalarms Electronic Corp Brooklyn NY. now part of the Massive Thomas and Betts Group. installed in the late 1950's
It was later upgraded from a AC with no control just bells arrangement to a Fire-Lite Miniscan 112 - 12 volts Dc system with 12 volt bells some time in the 80's, and at some point along the line the building owner ran out of the glass break rods that go into the stations and some one instead inserted a piece of no 12# Gauge wire in its place which prevents the system from being operated and alerting people to evacuate.
It was caught because the building was recently sold to a realty company and they where required to have system tested and made to transmit to a central station when it goes into alarm . Needless to say as old as everything was I replaced all the bells and pull stations with new upgraded ADA approved Fire-lite BG12 Pull stations and P2R System Sensor Horn/ strobes instead of bells and installed a Fire-lite 5UD control with communication to central station I use. In addition to what was there I also added a I3- 2WB System Sensor Smoke detector on each floor and above control to add additional safety to the system and beef up its effectiveness. Had the building not been sold it probably never would have been caught until there was a tragedy. Sad to say it but who ever serviced this system let down the building owner along with the AHJ who are suppose to make sure systems are operating properly in there jurisdiction. This is just one of the many ticking time bombs out there waiting to kill and hurt because people do not care to follow codes and do the right thing when it comes to peoples life safety and unfortunate this is not the exception any more it is normal practice in the life safety industry a practice which needs to stop.