Skip, if no one is home the smoke alarms don't help I guess.

The neighbor reported hearing an explosion before fire started.

We were shocked
 

We saw the fire and moved out of the area to make sure we did not get in the way of the fire fighters who were just starting to arrive. We rode back by later in the evening to see how bad the house was damaged. It appears to be completely destroyed. We could not find anything about it on the news so was glad to find your update that the residents were not at home. We feel for the people in Liberty Park as the smoke smell is quite strong. Anyone hear what caused the fire if no one was there? With no one cooking, burning candles, Christmas trees (notorius) or using appliances it limits the possible sources.

No your right but in the last one in Hadley there were people home and had there been someone home in this one smoke alarms would have alerted them in both cases. I installed 2 in my garage one by the kitchen door the other by the A/C Hotwater heater closet. Most fires start small so the smoke alarm would deffinatly help.

I have never thought about smoke detectors in the garage. Thank you for mentioning it, I think it is a great idea!

Smoke alarms aren't very practical in a garage due to auto exhaust, dust, humidity, etc. (Speaking from experience.)

You typically use heat detectors in a garage. I have been a firefighter for the past 35 years and really dont like it when people guess at what has caused a fire. You cause people to worry about things they should not be. I did not pay attention to the people saying the Hadley fire was caused by a golf cart battery because the fire investigators had not finalized their report. If you dont know 100 percent dont guess. Wait for the official report. Just had to vent on this subject.

The people who live in the home were coming back (they are snowbirds) they had someone go in & turn on their hot water heater, water & charge up the golf cart battery (electric cart) the battery was runned down... He left the home and shortly after the house caught fire. They say it was cause when a battery runs low the acids build up and will explode (this is what I have been told) with the battery & the gas from the hot water tank (he may have not drained it before lighting it) it exploded! The fire was so bad that the house next door siding melted. This took place in the villages of Liberty park. the street next to the mail boxes.

So true. Good post.

I've always been a more than a tad worried about charging my golf cart batteries in an enclosed garage. Worried enough so that when I start the charge and the batteries are charging at a high-amperage rate I open the garage door. When the meter on the front of the battery charger shows that the charge is almost completed I shut the garage door.

When lead-acid batteries (the kind that are in a golf cart) are charged, they give off hydrogen and if the gas hot-water heater kicks on, there's also an open flame in the garage.

Guess the reason I'm concerned about this is that the boats I were on in the Navy all those years ago operated on battery power when submerged. From time-to-time, the batteries would have to be charged by the diesel engines. Charging the batteries was done under the supervision of a first-class petty officer (an E-6) because what with hydrogen being given off during charging, you wanted a senior enlisted man keeping an eye on things. At times, things went wrong which could lead to an explosion and loss of life (google USS Pomodon).

Not crazy...and they were doing it today...burning down south of sanibel area..clearing land no doubt. I was actually sick from the racid smell of it acouple days ago. Today they had a HUGE plume of it going.

Well said. All of this speculation is counterproductive. House fires can be caused by any number of reasons. Let's leave it to the fire inspectors to make the determination, which can take some time.

Amen and thank you~:bigbow::bigbow:

My husband is a retired firefighter. He agrees with you 100% that we should wait for the Official Report. Idle speculation just causes people to worry.

heat sink could be installed
 

heat sink set at 135 degrees would work but that is a extra exspense,and its all about profit.