Wreckers Up In Flames. Melb

[VPplayer]

Hey everyone,

I work at Holden wreckers in ferntree gully (melbourne). Alot of you will know the place and have probably seen me without knowing lol.

Anyway, today the place got burned down.
I was outside stripping a VL and i was in the middle of draining the transmission, another guy was inside stripping a VN which was on the hoist. Out of nowhere i hear " FIRE!!! FIRE!!" then a lot of swearing after it.

I sprinted around the corner and saw a huge fire ball with the other worker in the middle of it. Sprinted inside and got a fire extinguisher sprayed it all over the fire until i noticed something that could not be worse... the fire was right next to the 20 and 30ltr containers of petrol, after that i piffed the fire ectinguisher and ran for it. Everyone was out on the road yelling " GET THE **** OUT! ".

Acouple minutes later we get 6 fire trucks rock up, they chuck there hoses on the fire hydrant then all of a sudden.. BANG! fire hydrant blows and water goes everywhere. After about 20 mins they got the fire out but by then it was to late, all out stock is now gone. Engines and gearboxes are all melted, ALL the tools are melted, the VL i was wrecking... Melted.

What a day.

[VKCOMMO]

What a shit day...

Know what caused the fire?

[thewheeldeal com au]

Hey everyone,

I work at Holden wreckers in ferntree gully (melbourne). Alot of you will know the place and have probably seen me without knowing lol.

Anyway, today the place got burned down.
I was outside stripping a VL and i was in the middle of draining the transmission, another guy was inside stripping a VN which was on the hoist. Out of nowhere i hear " FIRE!!! FIRE!!" then a lot of swearing after it.

I sprinted around the corner and saw a huge fire ball with the other worker in the middle of it. Sprinted inside and got a fire extinguisher sprayed it all over the fire until i noticed something that could not be worse... the fire was right next to the 20 and 30ltr containers of petrol, after that i piffed the fire ectinguisher and ran for it. Everyone was out on the road yelling " GET THE **** OUT! ".

Acouple minutes later we get 6 fire trucks rock up, they chuck there hoses on the fire hydrant then all of a sudden.. BANG! fire hydrant blows and water goes everywhere. After about 20 mins they got the fire out but by then it was to late, all out stock is now gone. Engines and gearboxes are all melted, ALL the tools are melted, the VL i was wrecking... Melted.

What a day.

I drove past (just near mountain gate?) at about 11am this morning with coppers everywhere and the stinky stench of burning rubber/plastic in the air. I was wondering what was going on...

Hope everything's insured and everyone got out safely.

[nathanVY]

Bugger.

Hope they hand insurance lol.

[VPplayer]

Had about 30 tires sitting in the corner so that was smoking the whole street out.

What caused it is what has me speechless. What we normally do is if we don't need the fuel tank we punch a hole in it and let the fuel drain in a container.
The other guy got a screwdriver with a plastic handle. As soon as he smacked it with a hammer it went off. It pretty much blew up in flames 1 foot away from hit face and now he walks away with no eyebrows or eye lashes but no serious burns, everyone made it out in 1 piece.

[Bravotwozero]

I was up the road at a car dealer all day. Didn't smell anything but heard all the sirens.

[bandit10]

Had about 30 tires sitting in the corner so that was smoking the whole street out.

What caused it is what has me speechless. What we normally do is if we don't need the fuel tank we punch a hole in it and let the fuel drain in a container.
The other guy got a screwdriver with a plastic handle. As soon as he smacked it with a hammer it went off. It pretty much blew up in flames 1 foot away from hit face and now he walks away with no eyebrows or eye lashes but no serious burns, everyone made it out in 1 piece.

punching holes in a metal tank with a metal object.. not the best of ideas
Pleased to hear no one was seriously injured.

Are you out of a job now..?

[VPplayer]

I have worked there for about a month now, i punch a tank at least every second day with a screwdriver, tanks are made out of alloy wich cant make sparks.

No i am not out of a job (thank god). Going in tomorrow to start the clean up, the back of the workshop copped it the most so we are not allowed to enter that area because the roof is about to cave in and by the looks of it the brick wall is going to drop.

It all happened so quick and now we are left with nothing... I can just imagine how the boss is feeling. He was around the corner at the other work shop. I could tell he was holding back the tears.

[sjmcc]

I have worked there for about a month now, i punch a tank at least every second day with a screwdriver, tanks are made out of alloy wich cant make sparks.

No i am not out of a job (thank god). Going in tomorrow to start the clean up, the back of the workshop copped it the most so we are not allowed to enter that area because the roof is about to cave in and by the looks of it the brick wall is going to drop.

It all happened so quick and now we are left with nothing... I can just imagine how the boss is feeling. He was around the corner at the other work shop. I could tell he was holding back the tears.

So if these tanks can't spark (and by your information the regular practice of putting a hole in one hasn't caused a spark before) , what made this one spark?

Good to hear nobody is seriously hurt.

[bandit10]

Are you hitting a screw driver or punch with a hammer to make these holes? something must of made the spark
alloy or not i still would not be punching holes in a petrol tank.. and im guessing from now on your boss will be stopping you guys doing it to

Hope the clean up goes well and doesnt effect business to much, good luck

[Astranomical]

Glad to hear that everyone made it out in one piece...thats the most important thing, and being a business I'm assuming its all insured, but still...its a bugger, what a waste of parts.

[Jo3_Blo]

Yeah shit, what a shame to lose all those parts.

[acarmody]

Must have been absolutely no fuel in there for the fumes to ignite like that. Maybe from now on pour about 10 litres of water in first?

[crazyspoon05]

Glad to hear everyone is alright (including the dogs !!)

Hopefully you guys will be back up and running again

[VPplayer]

crazyspoon, how did you know the dogs are alright? Everyone actually forgot them until we heard barking lol.

I have no idea how it made a spark. I have punched a screwdriver through a fuel tank many many times.

Ah well, these things happen.

[graham7773]

Good old static electricity, always good for a bang. As for saving the fuel in a container, my brother in law owned a wrecking yard and a mate of mine also owned one. punching a hole in the tank is standard practice, I have done it many times myself on my cars I intend to scrap and Simsmetal does it with a bronze pick. If the fuel is good enough, it gets reused. I have never seen a tank go off and the one mentioned above is the first one I have heard of. Dead set unlucky. Only tank explosion I have heard of is a diesel tank which was supposed to be empty and a welder working on it with an oxy acetylene welder heated the fuel to flashpoint. the resulting explosion was a ripper.

[detox_nath83]

hmmm was he smoking....
seems suss :P
Glad nobody was hurt and dogs are ok.