Everyone Come Laugh at the Idiot!

We've all done it. I have a clip on timer that I use to remind me that I'm working on the stove. I attach it to my shirt. It has saved me many times. If it's on my shirt, the stove is open. I also make it a practice to make checking the stove the last thing I do before I leave the house.

I don't know much about boilers but would baking soda be a fast way to put out that fire? One time my stove was glowing bright orange = the door wasn't left open but I had the air intake too high - so I dumped about 2lbs of baking soda on it and it went right out. It wasn't too messy to clean up either. After that I always keep baking soda near the stove. Take care, Lisa

Thank God there was no fire or injury. Like others have said you will learn from it.

Consider adding a much larger expansion tank. The object is to size the tank large enough that the expanding hot water has somewhere to go without the pressure relief valve opening. In principle you could have a tank so large that it could hold all the expanding water heated by your boiler. Then when you discover your error, you turn on some radiation using up the now very hot water. Then as the water cools and reduces it volume it just returns to the boiler. No water lost. A much safer design.

You need to do a careful analysis of the temperatures and pressures created during a severe overfire to make sure all the components are up to the task.

If you want at "fire extinguisher" design you want something other than water to extinguish the fire. Water just turns to steam, a hazard itself. I think a dry power like baking soda is what the fire department uses in a chimney fire. They just dump it down the chimney. No water is put in the chimney. They don't want the liability of cracking the chimney flue tiles. Research "dry chemical" fire extinguishers.

I have a 25 lb. bag of Sodium bicarbonate here just in case. Not that necessary with a coal fire, but required when burning wood.

Hey this is something I wonder about too. What should I have on hand to throw on a coal fire in an emergency situation?
Would a couple buckets of sand do the trick??

How would you go about dousing the fire in an AHS S130 (or S260) Coal Gun if you were required to do so in a pinch?

Baking soda sounds like a good safe way to put a coal fire out without much risk of damaging anything or worrying about where you put the burning coal . and if I recall a 25# or 50# bag is not very expensive.

Thank you everyone for your positive feed back and ideas. I have learned from my mistake and also have learned from your responses/ideas. I just hope as I stated in my OP that at least one person here can use this story in some way to prevent having a similar situation.

Boots -

at 27 psi, you had water, not steam. Boiling temp increases along with pressure, and at 15 psi water doesn't boil until you hit 250 plus. Simply dumping the fire into the ash pan should have killed it quickly enough to avert problems. and BTW, d not EVER add cold water to an overheated boiler!! You are DAMN lucky you didn't grenade the thing! I have seen the aftermath of a "thermal shock" like that, and boiler went thru the roof 3 stories up! You need to play the lottery or something..

As far as CO, I think what happened is that the water thru the PRV flashed into steam, and as such it just reduced the oxygen content in the firebox and that is where the CO came from. There is also a phenomenon of water :splitting" into H and O2 if it hits something hot enough and increasing the fire rather than slowing it. If you want to kill the fire, use baking soda, sand, or ashes. Once again, you REALLY don't want to hit a hot boiler with cold water. If the water temp is above 212* you are only gonna get steam.

Having said all that..

I'd hang onto the circulator pump as a spare. It likely stuck b/c the bearing overheated.

Whew..

Ops

Boots, the only guys and gals who will laugh are those of us who have probably done something even more foolish!
We are laughing with you and not at you.

If we were all that smart, we would have a nukie in the basement doing heat, power and lights for 10 cents a day!!! .....with a windmill, and solar panels prominently displayed outside to confuse the 'greenies, or crunchies'......oh, and a Prius in the gravel drive (don't want to attract toooooo much heat with asphalt), you know.

'Leaves and twig's' to you, fellow coal burner!

Boots, I'm not laughing and you are far from being and idiot. You responded quickly and correctly to a bad situation, and sized up the problem even before you saw it. Good save. Also good babysitter.