Fire extinguishers/ Grade 2 listed thatched

[Gervase]

I can vouch for the efficacy of a CO2 extniguisher - my parents were incredibly paranoid, and we had extinguishers all around the house. One night I set light to a stick of white phosphorous in my bedroom (don't ask!) and the CO2 extinguisher managed to put it out before it did anything more serious than burn a hole through a desk. They will deal with almost any fire other than flammable liquids (and on the fire I had it did manage to send a fine mist of phosphorous particles around the room, so I had my own private planetarium for a few hours!) so chip pans need a fire blanket. Otherwise they're pretty impressive, if a little noisy.

 

[piper]

my parents were incredibly paranoid.

One night I set light to a stick of white phosphorous in my bedroom.

INCREDIBLY?? mmmm... spot the logical connection between Gervase's two statements above.

Psychologists among us may also care to debate which of the two statements is logically prior to the other. :wink:

 

[FamilyWiggs]

Where does one get white phosphorous these days - outside of Tora Bora General Stores?

 

[Gervase]

It's a long and complicated tale that involves the 'liberation' of the contents of a shed that that caught fire nearby, which had belonged to a long-deceased chemist. It yielded a treasure trove for a youngster that liked to make things go bang and flash. Suffice to say that I'm very glad I wasn't my parents, and that my own children have been paragons by comparison.

 

[Penners]

Good old phosphorus, eh? No child's playroom should be without it.

Even more fun than boring old gelignite.

 

[jocelyn plummer]

Dearie me, how does one innocent question end up with so many wonderful answers ? The heat of the summer must be getting to us all. :lol:

 

[Penners]

It's the joy of PPUK, Joss. We've all got opinions. Some of them useful, some of them a complete waste of time. But fun, nevertheless.

 

[FamilyWiggs]

Penners, I have learned that the trick with this forum is to disintguish the former from the latter.

It is not always as straightforward as one might presume! 8)

Clearly my posts fall firmly in the latter category...

 

[Penners]

Penners, I have learned that the trick with this forum is to disintguish the former from the latter.

It is not always as straightforward as one might presume! 8)

Clearly my posts fall firmly in the latter category...

Welcome to the larger of the two clubs!

 

[Nemesis]

I wasn't allowed to have a chemistry set, in case I used it.

 

[FamilyWiggs]

Don't think I ever set off explosives in the bedroom, but I did once place a christmas tree bulb on top of the telly (cream plastic case) and then put 240 volts through it. The scorch marks were visible for years afterwards. I still remember the jolt and the flashbang.

It almost rivalled the fun of the petrol bombs I used to make in the neighbour's shed when I was being paid to mow his lawn.

I survived (and learned valuable lessons along the way), but I dread my boys (8 and 6) experimenting with risk in a similar way. :shock:

 

[jocelyn plummer]

Probably not a good idea to post your experiments on the website ! Boys will be boys!

 

[Ushy M]

Isn't the greater risk of chimneys and thatch the fact that sparks/embers exit the chimney and land on the thatch? In whichcase, you'd have thought sort of "filter" that allows some to still draw through but stops conders would have been developed.

As I understand it, there is a greater risk of fire from a faulty chimney leaking hot flue gases through to the nice dry underside of your thatch than from sparks landing on the (often) damper outside. There is a sort of filter called a spark arrestor, but the view of some insurance companies is that if these aren't properly maintained and cleaned, they are more dangerous than no filter at all so they're not routinely recommended. The other advice we had was to ensure the top of your chimney stack is at least 5' from the thatch.

 

[Lime]

Isn't the greater risk of chimneys and thatch the fact that sparks/embers exit the chimney and land on the thatch? In whichcase, you'd have thought sort of "filter" that allows some to still draw through but stops conders would have been developed.

As I understand it, there is a greater risk of fire from a faulty chimney leaking hot flue gases through to the nice dry underside of your thatch than from sparks landing on the (often) damper outside. There is a sort of filter called a spark arrestor, but the view of some insurance companies is that if these aren't properly maintained and cleaned, they are more dangerous than no filter at all so they're not routinely recommended. The other advice we had was to ensure the top of your chimney stack is at least 5' from the thatch.

Yes, and regularly swept.