Somehow this does not make sense.....

1. Who ever heard of using linseed oil to clean a couch cushion?
2. Why would it combust from sitting outside in the cold winter?

The article is he
http://www.news8000.com/news/Cushion...6/-/index.html


Cushion combusts, causes Medary house fire
Published On: Feb 07 2012 01:46:04 PM CST Updated On: Feb 07 2012
07:19:02 PM CST


TOWN OF MEDARY, Wis. -- A couch cushion cleaned with linseed oil appears
to have caused a house fire in the Town of Medary.

The Vance family made it out of their home on Smith Valley Road safely
early Sunday morning, thanks to the help of cab driver Colin Winchell,
who saw the fire as he was driving by and woke the family up.

Onalaska Fire Chief Don Dominick tells News 8 the family had cleaned the
couch cushion used by the family pets with linseed oil, which has a
tendency to combust due to its chemical makeup.

The cushion was placed outside the home to air out, and later ignited,
causing the fire that damaged the home.

The family, who is staying at a hotel, lost two dogs and two cats in the
fire. Firefighters rescued one cat from the home.

That sounds odd. I've heard the old, and totally valid cautions about shop
rags and linseed oil. But, using it to clean a sofa cushion? Makes no sense
at all. And, it's not like the sofa cushion is crumpled, and left in the
corner.

Careless smoking, maybe?

Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..

wrote in message
...
Somehow this does not make sense.....

1. Who ever heard of using linseed oil to clean a couch cushion?
2. Why would it combust from sitting outside in the cold winter?

The article is he
http://www.news8000.com/news/Cushion...6/-/index.html


Cushion combusts, causes Medary house fire
Published On: Feb 07 2012 01:46:04 PM CST Updated On: Feb 07 2012
07:19:02 PM CST


TOWN OF MEDARY, Wis. -- A couch cushion cleaned with linseed oil appears
to have caused a house fire in the Town of Medary.

The Vance family made it out of their home on Smith Valley Road safely
early Sunday morning, thanks to the help of cab driver Colin Winchell,
who saw the fire as he was driving by and woke the family up.

Onalaska Fire Chief Don Dominick tells News 8 the family had cleaned the
couch cushion used by the family pets with linseed oil, which has a
tendency to combust due to its chemical makeup.

The cushion was placed outside the home to air out, and later ignited,
causing the fire that damaged the home.

The family, who is staying at a hotel, lost two dogs and two cats in the
fire. Firefighters rescued one cat from the home.

wrote in message
...
Somehow this does not make sense.....

1. Who ever heard of using linseed oil to clean a couch cushion?
2. Why would it combust from sitting outside in the cold winter?

The article is he

http://www.news8000.com/news/Cushion...6/-/index.html

Linseed oil is notorious for self-combustion:

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/ConsumerNe...ry?id=11328546

Here's how it happens: when linseed oil is exposed to air, it combines
with the oxygen molecules. This chemical reaction creates heat. If the
linseed oil is on something like a cotton rag, it can catch fire at as low
as 120 degrees -- with no outside spark. "It is certainly among only a few
items that gives off heat when it comes in contact with other natural
products like cotton. And given the right atmosphere, the right amount of
ventilation, it does self ignite. So that makes it extremely dangerous,"
said Chief Dennis Rubin of the Washington D.C. Fire & EMS.

--
Bobby G.

On Feb 9, 4:44*am, wrote:
Somehow this does not make sense.....

1. Who ever heard of using linseed oil to clean a couch cushion?
2. Why would it combust from sitting outside in the cold winter?

The article is hehttp://www.news8000.com/news/Cushion...dary-house-fir...

Cushion combusts, causes Medary house fire
Published On: Feb 07 2012 01:46:04 PM CST *Updated On: Feb 07 2012
07:19:02 PM CST

TOWN OF MEDARY, Wis. -- A couch cushion cleaned with linseed oil appears
to have caused a house fire in the Town of Medary.

The Vance family made it out of their home on Smith Valley Road safely
early Sunday morning, thanks to the help of cab driver Colin Winchell,
who saw the fire as he was driving by and woke the family up.

Onalaska Fire Chief Don Dominick tells News 8 the family had cleaned the
couch cushion used by the family pets with linseed oil, which has a
tendency to combust due to its chemical makeup.

The cushion was placed outside the home to air out, and later ignited,
causing the fire that damaged the home.

The family, who is staying at a hotel, lost two dogs and two cats in the
fire. Firefighters rescued one cat from the home.

Never heard of Linseed Oil being used as a cleaner, but I have only
used BLO. However, considering it has a mild, almost food-like odor,
BLO is very volatile.

Years ago I was using it on a project and my habit is to put rags
soaked with oil, wiping finish, etc in a sandwich bag with air pressed
out and sealed in between coats. The bag goes into a metal coffee can
out at the corner of the patio slab. I reached into the can one
winter evening and the bag was notably warm. That made me a believer.

RonB

On 2/9/2012 5:44 AM, wrote:
Somehow this does not make sense.....

1. Who ever heard of using linseed oil to clean a couch cushion?
2. Why would it combust from sitting outside in the cold winter?

The article is he
http://www.news8000.com/news/Cushion...6/-/index.html


Cushion combusts, causes Medary house fire
Published On: Feb 07 2012 01:46:04 PM CST Updated On: Feb 07 2012
07:19:02 PM CST


TOWN OF MEDARY, Wis. -- A couch cushion cleaned with linseed oil appears
to have caused a house fire in the Town of Medary.

The Vance family made it out of their home on Smith Valley Road safely
early Sunday morning, thanks to the help of cab driver Colin Winchell,
who saw the fire as he was driving by and woke the family up.

Onalaska Fire Chief Don Dominick tells News 8 the family had cleaned the
couch cushion used by the family pets with linseed oil, which has a
tendency to combust due to its chemical makeup.

The cushion was placed outside the home to air out, and later ignited,
causing the fire that damaged the home.

The family, who is staying at a hotel, lost two dogs and two cats in the
fire. Firefighters rescued one cat from the home.




Mushroom houses around here use a lot of compost.
Don't know what the current situation is but a guy that lived near a big
composter said town was having a real problem extinguishing fires caused
by spontaneous combustion of the compost piles.

BHO is incendiary. It absorbs oxygen from the air, and tends to light on
fire when no one is looking. It is responsible for all kinds of problems in
the world. BHO is a bit more stable when stored in a metal jug, with no
oxygen present. BHO might smell like food, and might smell like smoke. For
sure, BHO cannot be trusted, and needs to be treated with great care.
Pressing BHO into a sandwich bag, with the air pushed out, sounds like a
wise idea. The metal can is a good idea, and stored safely away from
anything that could be damaged if BHO became incendiary, as so often
happens.

Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..

"RonB" wrote in message
...

Never heard of Linseed Oil being used as a cleaner, but I have only
used BLO. However, considering it has a mild, almost food-like odor,
BLO is very volatile.

Years ago I was using it on a project and my habit is to put rags
soaked with oil, wiping finish, etc in a sandwich bag with air pressed
out and sealed in between coats. The bag goes into a metal coffee can
out at the corner of the patio slab. I reached into the can one
winter evening and the bag was notably warm. That made me a believer.

RonB

On Thu, 9 Feb 2012 09:37:56 -0500, "Stormin Mormon"
wrote:

BHO is incendiary. It absorbs oxygen from the air, and tends to light on
fire when no one is looking. It is responsible for all kinds of problems in
the world. BHO is a bit more stable when stored in a metal jug, with no
oxygen present. BHO might smell like food, and might smell like smoke. For
sure, BHO cannot be trusted, and needs to be treated with great care.
Pressing BHO into a sandwich bag, with the air pushed out, sounds like a
wise idea. The metal can is a good idea, and stored safely away from
anything that could be damaged if BHO became incendiary, as so often
happens.


Is it BHO or BLO ???
We're not matching between messages here....

What is this stuff?

On Thu, 09 Feb 2012 09:01:22 -0500, Frank
wrote:

On 2/9/2012 5:44 AM, wrote:
Somehow this does not make sense.....

1. Who ever heard of using linseed oil to clean a couch cushion?
2. Why would it combust from sitting outside in the cold winter?

The article is he
http://www.news8000.com/news/Cushion...6/-/index.html


Cushion combusts, causes Medary house fire
Published On: Feb 07 2012 01:46:04 PM CST Updated On: Feb 07 2012
07:19:02 PM CST


TOWN OF MEDARY, Wis. -- A couch cushion cleaned with linseed oil appears
to have caused a house fire in the Town of Medary.

The Vance family made it out of their home on Smith Valley Road safely
early Sunday morning, thanks to the help of cab driver Colin Winchell,
who saw the fire as he was driving by and woke the family up.

Onalaska Fire Chief Don Dominick tells News 8 the family had cleaned the
couch cushion used by the family pets with linseed oil, which has a
tendency to combust due to its chemical makeup.

The cushion was placed outside the home to air out, and later ignited,
causing the fire that damaged the home.

The family, who is staying at a hotel, lost two dogs and two cats in the
fire. Firefighters rescued one cat from the home.




Mushroom houses around here use a lot of compost.
Don't know what the current situation is but a guy that lived near a big
composter said town was having a real problem extinguishing fires caused
by spontaneous combustion of the compost piles.

This I can believe. As a farmer, I know how hot a pile of manure can
get. Even in the dead of winter a fresh pile will melt off all the
snow. I've also had manure piles start burning in the summer, because I
was burning off weeds and dried grass in spring. If the fire gets to
the manure pile, it will smoulder for months. It dont really flame, it
just smoulders and stinks bad. Fortunately, I've always caught the
manure fires soon, and soaked the burning parts with a hose and made
them out.

However, I know a farm that had the barn, and several other buildings
destroyed by a tornado. The owner pushed the remainder of the barn and
other buildings into a deep hole on the farm, the same hole he had been
dumping cattle manure for years. He set the pile of barn wood, with
several hundred bales of hay and straw that was in the barn, and soaked.
He invited all his friends to watch (myself included). That was one of
the biggest fires I ever saw. It burned for several days as that soaked
hay and straw would dry, then burn, and other junk like old tires that
were in those buildings would ignite. About 4 or 5 days later the
flames were nearly gone, but it smouldered and stunk. He burned this in
early June. In October around Halloween it was still smouldering and
stinky. Finally several heavy rains seemed to put it out, but a week
later there would be small puffs of smoke again. The winter snow
finally put out the fire completely.

I have photos of the initial fire, but they are on film, so I cant post
them online. This was before digital cameras existed.

Some truth in it, either way.

Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..

wrote in message
...
On Thu, 9 Feb 2012 09:37:56 -0500, "Stormin Mormon"
wrote:

BHO is incendiary. It absorbs oxygen from the air, and tends to light on
fire when no one is looking. It is responsible for all kinds of problems in
the world. BHO is a bit more stable when stored in a metal jug, with no
oxygen present. BHO might smell like food, and might smell like smoke. For
sure, BHO cannot be trusted, and needs to be treated with great care.
Pressing BHO into a sandwich bag, with the air pushed out, sounds like a
wise idea. The metal can is a good idea, and stored safely away from
anything that could be damaged if BHO became incendiary, as so often
happens.


Is it BHO or BLO ???
We're not matching between messages here....

What is this stuff?

On Feb 9, 10:44*am, wrote:
Somehow this does not make sense.....

1. Who ever heard of using linseed oil to clean a couch cushion?
2. Why would it combust from sitting outside in the cold winter?

The article is hehttp://www.news8000.com/news/Cushion...dary-house-fir...

Cushion combusts, causes Medary house fire
Published On: Feb 07 2012 01:46:04 PM CST *Updated On: Feb 07 2012
07:19:02 PM CST

TOWN OF MEDARY, Wis. -- A couch cushion cleaned with linseed oil appears
to have caused a house fire in the Town of Medary.

The Vance family made it out of their home on Smith Valley Road safely
early Sunday morning, thanks to the help of cab driver Colin Winchell,
who saw the fire as he was driving by and woke the family up.

Onalaska Fire Chief Don Dominick tells News 8 the family had cleaned the
couch cushion used by the family pets with linseed oil, which has a
tendency to combust due to its chemical makeup.

The cushion was placed outside the home to air out, and later ignited,
causing the fire that damaged the home.

The family, who is staying at a hotel, lost two dogs and two cats in the
fire. Firefighters rescued one cat from the home.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linseed...ous_combustion

On Thu, 9 Feb 2012 08:03:55 -0500, "Robert Green"
wrote:

Linseed oil is notorious for self-combustion

Linseed oil MSDS

Flammability of the Product: May be combustible at high temperature.

Auto-Ignition Temperatu 343°C (649.4°F)
Flash Points: OPEN CUP: 222.22°C (432°F).

....

Precautions:

Keep away from heat. Keep away from sources of ignition. Empty
containers pose a fire risk, evaporate the residue under a
fume hood. Ground all equipment containing material. Do not breathe
gas/fumes/ vapour/spray. Avoid contact with eyes Wear
suitable protective clothing If you feel unwell, seek medical
attention and show the label when possible.

Storage:

Keep container dry. Keep in a cool place. Ground all equipment
containing material. Keep container tightly closed. Keep in a
cool, well-ventilated place. Combustible materials should be stored
away from extreme heat and away from strong oxidizing
agents.

http://www.sciencelab.com/msds.php?msdsId=9924500

By that, even the empty containers pose a fire risk...

On Thu, 09 Feb 2012 04:44:02 -0600, wrote:

Somehow this does not make sense.....

1. Who ever heard of using linseed oil to clean a couch cushion?

Not me. It would make an almost irreparable mess. Maybe they meant
turpentine.

2. Why would it combust from sitting outside in the cold winter?

If there was no wind, or it was shielded from the wind, mayyyyybe it's
possible to get that much heat, even when it's cold out. Is this a
chemistry question? sci.chem?

It was quite cold in Wisconsin early Sunday morning Feb 5, wasn't
it? 20 degrees?

And it's true, the stuffing keeps a cushion from being crumpled up, so
the heat is concentrated. Instead, it's spread out over 18" x 18" or
so.

Frank, do these compost piles catch fire when i't 20 or 30 degrees
out?

The article is he
http://www.news8000.com/news/Cushion...6/-/index.html


Cushion combusts, causes Medary house fire
Published On: Feb 07 2012 01:46:04 PM CST Updated On: Feb 07 2012
07:19:02 PM CST


TOWN OF MEDARY, Wis. -- A couch cushion cleaned with linseed oil appears
to have caused a house fire in the Town of Medary.

The Vance family made it out of their home on Smith Valley Road safely
early Sunday morning, thanks to the help of cab driver Colin Winchell,
who saw the fire as he was driving by and woke the family up.

Onalaska Fire Chief Don Dominick tells News 8 the family had cleaned the
couch cushion used by the family pets with linseed oil, which has a
tendency to combust due to its chemical makeup.

The cushion was placed outside the home to air out, and later ignited,
causing the fire that damaged the home.

The family, who is staying at a hotel, lost two dogs and two cats in the
fire. Firefighters rescued one cat from the home.

On Feb 9, 5:43*am, RonB wrote:
On Feb 9, 4:44*am, wrote:









Somehow this does not make sense.....

1. Who ever heard of using linseed oil to clean a couch cushion?
2. Why would it combust from sitting outside in the cold winter?

The article is hehttp://www.news8000.com/news/Cushion...dary-house-fir...

Cushion combusts, causes Medary house fire
Published On: Feb 07 2012 01:46:04 PM CST *Updated On: Feb 07 2012
07:19:02 PM CST

TOWN OF MEDARY, Wis. -- A couch cushion cleaned with linseed oil appears
to have caused a house fire in the Town of Medary.

The Vance family made it out of their home on Smith Valley Road safely
early Sunday morning, thanks to the help of cab driver Colin Winchell,
who saw the fire as he was driving by and woke the family up.

Onalaska Fire Chief Don Dominick tells News 8 the family had cleaned the
couch cushion used by the family pets with linseed oil, which has a
tendency to combust due to its chemical makeup.

The cushion was placed outside the home to air out, and later ignited,
causing the fire that damaged the home.

The family, who is staying at a hotel, lost two dogs and two cats in the
fire. Firefighters rescued one cat from the home.

Never heard of Linseed Oil being used as a cleaner, but I have only
used BLO. * However, considering it has a mild, almost food-like odor,
BLO is very volatile.

Years ago I was using it on a project and my habit is to put rags
soaked with oil, wiping finish, etc in a sandwich bag with air pressed
out and sealed in between coats. *The bag goes into a metal coffee can
out at the corner of the patio slab. * I reached into the can one
winter evening and the bag was notably warm. *That made me a believer.

RonB

When I was much younger I tried a few times to get linseed oil soaked
rags to spontaneously combust but no luck.

Here's a link to some work a guy did experimenting with spontaneous
combustion.
After a few tries he got it work, interesting data & photos.

http://www.wildwoodsurvival.com/surv...l05/index.html

cheers
Bob

Ouch, that's serious hazzard. I hope we all are very careful with linseed
oil rags.

--

Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..

"DD_BobK" wrote in message
...

When I was much younger I tried a few times to get linseed oil soaked
rags to spontaneously combust but no luck.

Here's a link to some work a guy did experimenting with spontaneous
combustion.
After a few tries he got it work, interesting data & photos.

http://www.wildwoodsurvival.com/surv...l05/index.html

cheers
Bob

On another list, it was suggested to me that the web site guy had the stove
burner flame on, since the can was on the stove. And, that's why the linseed
caught fire. How true is this? I have no way to know.

Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..


Here's a link to some work a guy did experimenting with spontaneous
combustion.
After a few tries he got it work, interesting data & photos.

http://www.wildwoodsurvival.com/surv...l05/index.html

cheers
Bob

On Feb 10, 6:39*am, "Stormin Mormon"
wrote:


Here's a link to some work a guy did experimenting with spontaneous
combustion.
After a few tries he got it work, interesting data & photos.

* *http://www.wildwoodsurvival.com/surv...uscombustion/r...

cheers
Bob

On another list, it was suggested to me that the web site guy had the stove
burner flame on, since the can was on the stove. And, that's why the linseed
caught fire. How true is this? I have no way to know.

Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
*www.lds.org
.


The really sad thing is...... the person who suggested that the
experiment was faked probably votes.
It's amazing how people who do not or cannot understand a process
believe it must be faked or magic.

Do some reading on the chemistry of readily oxidized oils &
spontaneous combustion.
Spontaneous combustion risk of linseed oil has been know for many
years.

pistachio nuts as well
http://www.tis-gdv.de/tis_e/ware/nue...elbsterhitzung

A compost pile of eucalyptus leaves, bark & wood caught fire on a
freeway median in Orange County, CA.
I saw it on the way to work.

The link I posted gave the best explanation & demonstration combo I
was able to find.


cheers
Bob

"DD_BobK" wrote in message
news:882a4a7c-8ff4-4819-9624-

A compost pile of eucalyptus leaves, bark & wood caught fire on a freeway
median in Orange County, CA.
I saw it on the way to work.

Got a friend who's a "firey" (firefighter, not pyromaniac!) in Oz that told
me that eucalyptus trees contain lots of oil that makes them very hard to
extinguish once they do catch on fire and that piles dead leaves and
branches of such trees can ignite very easily. The hazards of linseed oil
are well-known but it still starts fires because people can't easily get
their heads around the idea that a pile of old rags can set themselves on
fire.

--
Bobby G.

On Feb 9, 9:37*am, "Stormin Mormon"
wrote:
BHO is incendiary. It absorbs oxygen from the air, and tends to light on
fire when no one is looking. It is responsible for all kinds of problems in
the world. BHO is a bit more stable when stored in a metal jug, with no
oxygen present. BHO might smell like food, and might smell like smoke. For
sure, BHO cannot be trusted, and needs to be treated with great care.
Pressing BHO into a sandwich bag, with the air pushed out, sounds like a
wise idea. The metal can is a good idea, and stored safely away from
anything that could be damaged if BHO became incendiary, as so often
happens.

Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
*www.lds.org
.

"RonB" wrote in message

...

Never heard of Linseed Oil being used as a cleaner, but I have only
used BLO. * However, considering it has a mild, almost food-like odor,
BLO is very volatile.

Years ago I was using it on a project and my habit is to put rags
soaked with oil, wiping finish, etc in a sandwich bag with air pressed
out and sealed in between coats. *The bag goes into a metal coffee can
out at the corner of the patio slab. * I reached into the can one
winter evening and the bag was notably warm. *That made me a believer.

RonB

"...and tends to light on fire when no one is looking. "

As the man once asked about the thermos: "How do it know?"

I'm remembering the story of the blonde woman who bought a thermos. Are you
going in that same general direction, too?

Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..

"DerbyDad03" wrote in message
...

On Feb 9, 9:37 am, "Stormin Mormon"
wrote:
BHO is incendiary. It absorbs oxygen from the air, and tends to light on
fire when no one is looking. It is responsible for all kinds of problems
in

"...and tends to light on fire when no one is looking. "

As the man once asked about the thermos: "How do it know?"

On Feb 9, 6:43*am, RonB wrote:
On Feb 9, 4:44*am, wrote:





Somehow this does not make sense.....

1. Who ever heard of using linseed oil to clean a couch cushion?
2. Why would it combust from sitting outside in the cold winter?

The article is hehttp://www.news8000.com/news/Cushion...dary-house-fir...

Cushion combusts, causes Medary house fire
Published On: Feb 07 2012 01:46:04 PM CST *Updated On: Feb 07 2012
07:19:02 PM CST

TOWN OF MEDARY, Wis. -- A couch cushion cleaned with linseed oil appears
to have caused a house fire in the Town of Medary.

The Vance family made it out of their home on Smith Valley Road safely
early Sunday morning, thanks to the help of cab driver Colin Winchell,
who saw the fire as he was driving by and woke the family up.

Onalaska Fire Chief Don Dominick tells News 8 the family had cleaned the
couch cushion used by the family pets with linseed oil, which has a
tendency to combust due to its chemical makeup.

The cushion was placed outside the home to air out, and later ignited,
causing the fire that damaged the home.

The family, who is staying at a hotel, lost two dogs and two cats in the
fire. Firefighters rescued one cat from the home.

Never heard of Linseed Oil being used as a cleaner, but I have only
used BLO. * However, considering it has a mild, almost food-like odor,
BLO is very volatile.

Years ago I was using it on a project and my habit is to put rags
soaked with oil, wiping finish, etc in a sandwich bag with air pressed
out and sealed in between coats. *The bag goes into a metal coffee can
out at the corner of the patio slab. * I reached into the can one
winter evening and the bag was notably warm. *That made me a believer.

RonB

After sealing and removing excess O2, I always heard "...then store in
the freezer." This included paint brushes so you wouldn't have to
clean them between use over a period of days, better than sticking
completely into the paint can overnight+.

That makes sense. Freezer not likely to get hot enough to catch fire.

Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..

"Robert Macy" wrote in message
...

After sealing and removing excess O2, I always heard "...then store in
the freezer." This included paint brushes so you wouldn't have to
clean them between use over a period of days, better than sticking
completely into the paint can overnight+.

On Feb 9, 5:44*am, wrote:
Somehow this does not make sense.....

1. Who ever heard of using linseed oil to clean a couch cushion?
2. Why would it combust from sitting outside in the cold winter?

The article is hehttp://www.news8000.com/news/Cushion...dary-house-fir...

Cushion combusts, causes Medary house fire
Published On: Feb 07 2012 01:46:04 PM CST *Updated On: Feb 07 2012
07:19:02 PM CST

TOWN OF MEDARY, Wis. -- A couch cushion cleaned with linseed oil appears
to have caused a house fire in the Town of Medary.

The Vance family made it out of their home on Smith Valley Road safely
early Sunday morning, thanks to the help of cab driver Colin Winchell,
who saw the fire as he was driving by and woke the family up.

Onalaska Fire Chief Don Dominick tells News 8 the family had cleaned the
couch cushion used by the family pets with linseed oil, which has a
tendency to combust due to its chemical makeup.

The cushion was placed outside the home to air out, and later ignited,
causing the fire that damaged the home.

The family, who is staying at a hotel, lost two dogs and two cats in the
fire. Firefighters rescued one cat from the home.

I know rags damp with it can spontaneously combust but dont have a
clue to why someone would use it to clean a couch with. Maybe they
were using it on some wood trim on the couch. Getting the couch
outside of the house would be the right thing to do if they spilt it
down in the padding.

Jimmie