Fighting fires is even more dangerous when there's ammo in the house

Jinglebob · Oct 18, 2019

An Oklahoma firefighter was seriously wounded when rounds started popping off while he was fighting a house fire.

A bullet hit at the corner of his eye, traveled through his head and exited behind his ear. It caused a fractured skull and brain bleed. He lost his eye and may have suffered hearing loss.

Oklahoma firefighter shot when ammo popped off during fire loses eye, may lose hearing, officials say

K Frame Keith · Oct 18, 2019

First, best wishes to the brave firefighter. I'm guessing the round that did that kind of damage was not from a box of ammunition, but from a chambered round that detonated during the fire. To the best of my knowledge, burning ammunition bursts like a firecracker, very dangerous, but does not usually result in bullets having the ballistic performance noted in this article. An rare and tragic incident.

Hillbilly77 · Oct 18, 2019

Un-chambered ammunition poses almost no risk whatsoever.

Watch this video:
It’s 25 minutes long but worth the time to watch it. It was an eye opening experience for me to learn just how safe (and low-risk) live ammunition is.
[ame]https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3SlOXowwC4c[/ame]

Rustyt1953 · Oct 18, 2019

Hillbilly, that's a fascinating video.

On a side note, I believe the narrator is the same one from all my high school health class movies.

JH1951 · Oct 18, 2019

Not to trivialize a very unfortunate incident, but as a firefighter, I feel I face considerably greater risk from a burning meth lab or even the contents of a modern home from breathing toxic methylethyldeath fumes even after I remove my SCBA.

sheepdawg · Oct 18, 2019

A buddy of mine owns a sheet metal building next to this one, 100 feet away if that, not a single hole. He does have a lifetime supply of 9mm. brass now though.

Investigators uncertain what sparked Oakland munitions plant blaze

ParadiseRoad · Oct 18, 2019

...a cartridge just gets the ingredients into the CHAMBER...

...the projectile launch is due to the containment of that chamber...

ace22 · Oct 22, 2019

something i always wondered about is how about ammo stored in a tight sealed military metal ammo can in a fire?
wouldn't a full can burst and explode in a fire from the pressure of the ammo going off inside?

JayFramer · Oct 22, 2019

Sounds like propo from the antis who don’t have all there facts straight.

fishcreekrim · Oct 22, 2019

Loose Ammo may be a small hazard. But a firefighter was injured and may lose his sight. Cooked off chambered round or whatever, expect new protocols in dwellings with firearms and Ammo.

johnbeaver · Oct 22, 2019

I suspect it was a chambered round also.
That has been one of my fears.
Way back, I was second on a handline going from the garage into a fully involved house. Nozzle guy opened and the door and was immediately pelted and you could hear the ammo popping. He ducked and turned and exited. I took the nozzle and applied a little water to the area the ammo was in and the ammo stopped cooking. I felt several cases hit my gear but nothing hard. Turned out to be a mix of ammo, mostly .22 lr .
I have always had a concern with homes and vehicles that a chambered round could cook off and cause a real problem.

Ivan the Butcher · Oct 22, 2019

ace22 said:
something i always wondered about is how about ammo stored in a tight sealed military metal ammo can in a fire?
wouldn't a full can burst and explode in a fire from the pressure of the ammo going off inside?

My Father-In-Law is and was the reloader for a police department pistol team. His house burnt down about 25 years ago this summer (Killing his second wife and most of their pets). In the garage was the Camdex loader 30 or so pounds of Bullseye, 35,000 primers and several thousand rounds of 38 Special and 45 ACP (20,000 38's & 15,000 45's) plus about 15,000 factory 22's, and there were in the hundreds of rounds of assorted rifle ammunition. I was there when the Bullseye caught fire, It was a jet of fire about 35 feet tall and somewhere around a foot to a foot and a half across. it lasted about 8 to 10 minutes. (a very long and slow energy release, but adding heat to the fire)

After the fire department and police released the scene, I was helping with salvage and clean up and we found the 20mm and 50 caliber ammo cans the ammo was stored in. One of the 20mm cans was dented from the inside, like with a small hammer! The seal had melted and we couldn't pry the lid open. None of the 50 cal cans were dented, but 2 were also sealed shut. The cans we could open contained a mix of undamaged and cooked off ammo (completely mixed together) the cooked off rounds were usually split lengthwise with the projectile just free of (and sometime still in) the case mouth.

The can of 30-06 was Armor Piercing in 8 round Garand end blocks. About 1/4 of the ammo cooked off and was mixed in at random, the cases and projectiles were in about the same condition and locations as the hand gun ammo. NOT A SINGLE ARMOR PIERCING PROJECTIAL CAME THROUGH AN AMMO CAN!

The military has been shipping and storing ammo this way since before WWII. It is very safe!

Ivan

Kevin J. · Oct 22, 2019

Being on a firefighter theme attached is one of my favorite photos of all time. The butt you see going into the window is my son a St. Paul Mn firefighter. The house was fully engulfed with two people passed out upstairs when they arrive. My son and his partner pulled them both out and they survived. The house had a welding shop on the back, thus the fierce fire. He said gas tanks were shooting off and flying like rockets. Reminded him of Iraq.

Ivan the Butcher · Oct 22, 2019

Kevin J. said:
Being on a firefighter theme attached is one of my favorite photos of all time. The butt you see going into the window is my son a St. Paul Mn firefighter. The house was fully engulfed with two people passed out upstairs when they arrive. My son and his partner pulled them both out and they survived. The house had a welding shop on the back, thus the fierce fire. He said gas tanks were shooting off and flying like rockets. Reminded him of Iraq.

My regards to your son, and a great big Thank You!

Ivan

ancient-one · Oct 23, 2019

My daughters house burned and her husband had a case of shotgun shells in the garage and they made kind of a phoofing sound as they went off. I was standing across the street and the fire was making more noise than the shells.

Gaffer · Oct 23, 2019

This is the url for that ammo fire test done by SAAMI. I have seen similar test done by Underwriters Labs. Unless chambered ammo possesses little danger.

Sporting Ammunition and the Firefighter – SAAMI

oneounceload · Oct 23, 2019

My uncle was a FDNY Lt. when he retired. He said his biggest fear was a garage fire because that is where most folks kept all of those nasty chemicals they used around the house. Made me go and do an inventory at my old house - paint, gas, fertilizers, chemical cleaners, propane cylinders, etc.
Unchambered ammo, as mentioned, just pops off.

islandguy · Oct 24, 2019

JH1951 said:
Not to trivialize a very unfortunate incident, but as a firefighter, I feel I face considerably greater risk from a burning meth lab or even the contents of a modern home from breathing toxic methylethyldeath fumes even after I remove my SCBA.

When I was a volunteer FF, our biggest concern with a house or business premises fire was propane or other compressed gas tanks, and then there was the fumes from plastic insulation, carpeting, etc.

rwsmith · Oct 24, 2019

I'm going to seriously consider....

Wow I'm sorry this happened. I'm going to take a serious look at how any loaded/chambered guns are situated around my house.

bgrafsr · Oct 24, 2019

I was conducting firearms practice for the PD one afternoon, and the firing line was a gravel walkway. One of the Officers dropped a round of .38 Spl. ammo, and it must have struck the gravel primer end first, as the round went off. There was a popping sound, but nothing else. Can't remember if we found the case or projectile. No one was struck by either.

Fighting fires is even more dangerous when there's ammo in the house

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