Community Chat

[Kachina624]

We had an incident occur in our community last night that created a situation I'd never thought about.  A large pueblo-style newish home in a subdivision in Albuquerque caught fire.  A large contingent from the fire department turned out to fight the fire which rapidly became massive and intense. 

Right during the process of fighting the fire, the firemen were pulled away from the scene.  It seems as thought there were bullets stored on the premises and they started exploding or going off.  They were forced, for their own safety, to let the house burn to the ground.... it was a total loss.

Many, many people have guns and supplies of ammo but I doubt most ever considered this possibility.  My dh was a deputy sheriff and he always had a lot for his numerous service and hunting weapons.  The possibility of them impeding firefighters was never mentioned and never occurred to me.

A young mother and infant escaped the fire unharmed.  Neighbors say there were two elderly dogs in the house but no one seems to know if they escaped.  They think the fire started in the area between the ceiling and the flat roof so it was probably electrical.

Just something to consider if you have ammo in your home. 

[HavealwaysbeenAmaw]

I'm sorry for the family but thanks for sharing.  Good information.

[RedTop]

Witnessed this first hand many years ago when my cousin burned his house down.  Stood on my front porch and listened to the bullets explode for at least 20 minutes.   

[BlueFinch]

I'm amazed I have never heard of this, considering the number of homes that most likely have large supplies of ammo, and loaded guns, particularly here in TX.

I'm wondering just how much ammo these owners had stashed and what type, leading firefighters to wait until the house burned to the ground. 

Good information to know. I guess one of the (questionably) fireproof safes, or lock boxes would be the safest place for storage. 

[deepwaterdotter]

We keep all firearms and ammunition in a fireproof safe.

[millieshops]

Never thought about that danger.  No one in my immediate family was a hunter, but I grew up in central Pensylvania where hunting was a huge part of many lives.  I can still visualize the gun cases as well as the hunting trophy heads in homes of my friends, but now I am wondering where the ammo was stored.   

[depglass]

DH is a hunter, I'll read this to him.   I've never thought about this and I bet he hasn't either.

[Mominohio]

This is indeed a real issue and concern, and it is something we have known about and had experience with, having fire fighters in our circle of friends. 

We had some friends of friends that had a fire and they had an entire room for reloading and weapon storage. When the firemen entered, they quickly got the fire out, which was located away from that particular room, but let the homeowners know they would not return for fire calls based on what they saw. 

Ammo should be stored in a fire proof safe and in metal ammo boxes and anyone calling in the fire department for putting out a fire, should notify them on site if there is ammo in the building. It's the right thing to do, but like you said, many people might not think about it. 

[ValuSkr]

I know next-to-nothing about firearms, so I'll ask a dumb question.  Why would bullets or ammo explode when heated or exposed to fire?

[Porcelain]

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@ValuSkr wrote:

I know next-to-nothing about firearms, so I'll ask a dumb question.  Why would bullets or ammo explode when heated or exposed to fire?

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Good question! Bullets are propelled by gunpowder. And the gunpowder ignites from a spark. So a house fire would be one heck of a spark.

"A cartridge is inserted into the chamber. The action is closed, and the firing pin is held back under spring tension.

When the trigger is squeezed, the hammer falls and hits the firing pin. The firing pin moves forward with great force, striking and igniting the primer in the cartridge base.

The spark from the primer ignites the gunpowder, generating gas pressure. The pressure from the expanding gas forces the bullet forward and out of the barrel. The bullet’s speed and escaping gases produce a “bang.”"