So I got burned last Sat.

I was going to write an AAR but I don't feel up to it, plus I'm on this asus netbook. A few Googders have asked what happened and I didn't want to derail Lars's xcom aar thread. So briefly this is what happened.

Saturday the 10th of November it is the 3rd quarter of the Alabama and Texas A&M game. I think it is the 3rd quarter but I'm not positive cause I haven't been following it to closely. Partly because my wife is planning on having a party Sunday and the game is going badly. The score is 20 to 17 when I decide to go back to trying to clean the floor in our downstairs sitting room. We had pulled up the carpet and tile in there a while back leaving this nasty looking adhesive on the floor.

IMAGE(http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l193/brizahd/th_goof-off1.jpg)
To fix that I bought a gallon of Goof Off. Knowing that I need to ventilate I turn on an fan that blows the air out of our enclosed patio. It is directly over the door that connects to the room I'm cleaning. It is a split level with a really open floor plan. I'd open the windows but they have an exterior cover that doesn't open.

IMAGE(http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l193/brizahd/2012-11-14082538-1.jpg)

My wife took the shot of the room on the stairs leading up to the kitchen. I started mopping from the stairs to the far corner where you can see the mop. The room is really long and narrow like I'd guess 50' x 12'? Everything was going great when I heard a noise. This where I'm not sure exactly what happened. Cause I heard the sound but I do recall seeing the flame appear. You can't see the spot but it is between the metal table and the doorway to our front door. I see this flame much like what you'd see on a lighter. The whole room is glistening in my over zealousness to finish the room as fast as possible. That little flame explodes outward in a growing sphere of "OH sh*t!" Screaming I turn to run but I have no where to go. I try climbing up on the pillows and chairs stacked in the corner. My legs are burning and one time as I go to grab something I see my hand is on fire. I open the window closest to me and I punch the outside pane and dive through head first.

I don't recall how I land but I'm up running around my house to grab our garden hose. I kick my way into our patio and bust the windows leading into the room that was on fire. In a flash most of the fire is gone. I spray the remaining areas that seem to still be burning. My wife yells at me to get out and let the firemen handle it. I do and as I wander around in our carport light I see my skin hanging off my legs and the gashes too. No loss of life human or pet. Everything is okay.

Some pictures of my wounds. I've spoilered them for the squeamish. Pretty much 2nd degree burns from knee to ankle on both legs and my right hand.

http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l1...
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l1...
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l1...
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l1...
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l1...

WOW!!!! Glad you and the house are okay! That's a pretty dangerous mix of chemicals. Doesn't take much to set off the gases from it!

Goddamn. I hope you recover soon.

As a prospective homeowner, this makes me fearful of living in anything more complicated than a yurt.

Wow. Glad you're okay. Sounds like it could have been far worse.

That's awful! Thank god there was a window for you to get through at the very least.

Fixed the images, spoiler tags don't work so they're just links now.

Hooollleeeee sh*t.
Thank Goodness things turned out as well as they could.
Here's to your speedy recovery, without complications.

Did the fire department actually have to come? or did you get the fire out? Something tells me that water, and that chemical may be bad.

We'll talk MSDS sheets after.

I'm delighted you lived and didn't lose the house. Just...man, what a rotten turn of luck. GoofOff is some of the nastiest stuff this side of aircraft stripper. Here's hoping for as uncomplicated a recovery as possible - personal experience with a tipped pot of browning butter in a commercial kitchen at age seventeen taught me severe leg burns are tough to get to heal comfortably, even with pantsless time at home. They'd better have you on some good drugs.

Damn man, glad you're ok. Do you have any idea what actually caused the fire?

Geez man, that's terrifying. I'm very glad you came out of it reasonably well, but wow... seriously, terrifying.

Everyone go check your basement back rooms for solvents and old paint remnants. Do not store that stuff near a gas furnace or HWT.

That Goof Off stuff must be nasty. Choking Fumes? It could have been anything from a fan motor, to a light switch, to static electricity discharge. The MSDS sheet says non sparking tools, so that means the vapour is really volatile.

Again, who cares why or how. Just worry about healing up. I wouldn't wish burns on an enemy if I had any. Get better.

Holy crap, man. I'll ditto the "glad you're okay/didn't burn down the house" sentiments.

Assuming you haven't now decided to contract this, might I recommend trying Simple Green? It's not as aggressive but it's a hell of a lot safer. Really though you have to clean that stuff up mechanically.

Yikes.

Wow. Glad you're OK.

Digging through the MSDS, I noticed that the flashpoint for it is -32 deg C. That means that even when it is that cold, the compounds in the product are volatile enough (they evaporate enough) that they will be able to ignite if given a spark or other source of combustion.

As for how nasty it is, I have a PhD in chemistry and worked with some fairly nasty stuff, including compounds that would spontaneously burst into flames upon contact with oxygen. Every single compound in that mixture is highly flammable, and at least one is a *confirmed* carcinogen that I know of off-hand.

So when they say that you need good ventilation, they mean *good*, constant ventilation.

Holy f*ck! So glad you're relatively okay. That's what you get for trying to be productive with your time.

Holy sh*t, that's much worse than I imagined from the XCOM AAR thread. Now I feel bad about my little joke. Glad it wasn't worse than it was.

I can't think of too many things more terrifying than fire. Stuff of nightmares.

Hope you have a speedy recovery.

If people are unsure, please, please, please read the MSDS. If you are unsure what the stuff on the MSDS means, PM me and ask. 6 years working on a PhD in Chemistry has given me a good base in how to tease out the danger things in an MSDS.

Yeeeeikes! That sounds awful. I hope you recover quickly.

Thanks for the well wishes and concern everyone! I can't say enough how much this community means to me. A family away from family. Have no worries or concerns I am doing really well.

3 firetrucks showed up and my wife said one blaimed it on static electricity. There was some speculation it could have been the pilot light on the water heater which is on the same level as that but in a hallway near our front door. Just no sign of it though. No smoke or signs of fire around it.

They got me on lortab. I am not in any pain at all when at rest. Standing up is a different matter. I feel really lucky cause the house is more smoke and water damage than fire. It was a brief flash of flames and heat. The wife lost her eyelashes, she arrived at the same spot she took the picture from just as I went through the window.

As for the floor I'm thinking a coat of paint and it is good to go.

Brizahd wrote:

As for the floor I'm thinking a coat of paint and it is good to go.

So does this mean you recommend flash fire as a removal method?

LiquidMantis wrote:
Brizahd wrote:

As for the floor I'm thinking a coat of paint and it is good to go.

So does this mean you recommend flash fire as a removal method?

Lol when it works it works.

LiquidMantis wrote:
Brizahd wrote:

As for the floor I'm thinking a coat of paint and it is good to go.

So does this mean you recommend flash fire as a removal method?

Just make sure you open the window before hand for easy diving access.

Holy hell. I hope you heal up quickly.

Yikes!
Hope you get well soon.

Jesus. Hope you get well soon, and maybe put a point into Cone of Cold.

Maybe next time just go with this. And don't invite QuixoticJune over anytime soon.

I soooo was hoping for the "sick burn, bro" type of burn. Hope you get better soon!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gntO-...

(Glad to hear you're okay!)

Wow. Best wishes for your speedy recovery.

I'm going to go out on a limb here: You aren't a fire wizahd.

Ack! Sorry to hear about the accident, here's wishing you a speedy and full recovery!