House Explodes While Man Is Reloading

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Wyoredman

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A home was destroyed this week in my county and the home owner was badly burned when, apparently, some powder on his bench flashed and ignited the safe where his bulk powder was stored.

According to the local web news, the home-owner was testing a new load for fit in his rifle. When he ejected the round, it hit something on his bench and caused the powder to flash. Details are sketchy, but this is what he told the first responders that drug him out of the home. The fire then reached the powder safe and the contents exploded.

I am not sure this is really what happened, as the man was burned very badly and I assume he was in shock when he relayed the cause to his rescuers. Never the less, this should be a reminder to all of us that reloading can be dangerous and we need to practice safety at all times.

Here is the link to the story:
http://county10.com/2015/05/10/breaking-fire-ravaging-rural-riverton-home-one-injured/
 
First, glad he's alive.

This is an example though of why you never store powder and primers in your safe and why there is a regulation of how the box should be if storing it in a box.

I don't know if I buy the story though. Because something would have to throw a spark on to the powder in order for it to ignite. I don't know about you, but my bench is wood. Not much metal except for the press. Then it would still have to jump into a sealed container, because I never leave a bottle open on my bench in fear of knocking it off. I sure don't have some just laying in a bowl on my bench......
 
No way an ejected cartridge would ever start a fire. There are no sparks either.
If Holloway was storing powder in a steel safe, that's as stupid as the guy who burned his whole house down when the oil he was using to deep fry a turkey over flowed.
 
Yeah, something set it off for sure, but I'm not sure what kind of brass can throw a spark. And, I'm thinking it must have been black powder. If the fire jumped to the powder in his safe, the safe must have been open, which would eliminate the ever popular "smokeless powder in a safe is a bomb" scenario. Anyhow, it's all speculation at this point, but if that's good enough for cable news, that's good enough for me. Film at 11:00. ;)
 
Glad he is alive and I pray he isn't to badly burned.
It would just about have to be black powder wouldn't it to flash like that. I have never experienced it, I have been told that when powder gets old and starts to break down it can become unstable. If that is true, and he had a safe full of powder, the is a good possibility that may have been the case.
 
I posted this article and some discussion, hoping we could get some insight as to what may have truly happened and how the rest of us may avoid such catastrophes.

Please, let's NOT bash the poor man this happened to. He has enough pain and loss as it is.

Let us discuss the probabilities, the consequences and the remedies. Keep our rocks in our pockets, lest we break our own windows. :)
 
Looks like a cannon next to the flag pole in his front yard. Maybe he had some black powder for that? Or was experimenting with something for that...

We had a guy in Richmond, VA blow himself and his house up a couple years ago with a Civil War cannon shell that he found. I think we was trying to inert it. Hazards of living near old battlefields...
 
Hope we can get more details on this story.

Powder set off by chambering a round? Loose powder laying around? Powder stored in a safe? Fire jumps from the bench to the safe?

Hard to believe some of the things written.
 
I just had the chance to talk to one of the Wyoming State Fire Inspector's father (who also is a retired fire chief). The current theory is :

There were some primed and charged cases on this gentleman's bench. They also found a cap from a powder jug.

The weather was cold that morning and he had a small space heater running in his reloading room.

The room had carpeting. It had been used for loading for many, many years.

The working estimation is that either the cases or an open powder canister was upset and fell from the bench to the floor. The heater ignited the spill.

Residual powder trapped in the carpet over years of reloading instantly flashed engulfing the room. The initial flash ignited some other powders.

This theory sounds reasonable to me. Makes you think about carpet in your reloading room. Also makes you think about having an auxiliary heat source operating when there is powder around.

The inspectors are waiting to talk with the gentleman to confirm, but he is currently sedated for his burns.

Stay safe.
 
So was he reloading or jacking with a firearm?
Click to expand...

I think we all have reloaded a test round and then tried it in our rifle before proceeding with the complete batch. As a matter of fact, I think many posts in this very forum have suggested exactly that - to verify that dies and set up are correct.

No way an ejected cartridge would ever start a fire. There are no sparks either.
Click to expand...

What if a carelessly ejected test round bounced around the bench and nocked over a charged case, pouring powder into a space heater? Plausible, no?
 
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Hatcher described the sad case of gunsmith/reloader J. Bushnell Smith who ADed a .30-06 into a keg of powder which ignited itself and four more. No explosion, but the flash "cooked him in his tracks."

Confining powder in a safe could provide the explosion.
 
Could be black powder....

I cannot tell for sure what it is under the flagpole in front of the house, but it might be a caisson to accompany an (antique) cannon, or such a cannon itself. Don't Civil War re-enactors use carbide to simulate cannon fire?

Lost Sheep

edit: oops. I see the cannon was already noticed. I posted before I read the article or past the third post.
 
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