It’s that time of year – houses are being painted, walkways are being paved and power washed, beds are being mulched and decks are being stained… My husband (and sometimes real estate partner) is the 2nd Assistant Chief at Liberty Corner Fire Company in Basking Ridge. The tones sounded just after 1:30 this morning and the team was called to fight a structure fire here in town. I was thankful when he came home around 6:45 and said that everyone was safe and the house wasn’t completely destroyed. I asked if he knew what caused the fire - but he didn’t. It didn’t matter – they got it out, and that’s what was really important.
Later in the day, we were chatting again about it and he said that he had a hunch that rags were left in the garage when they shouldn’t have been. I guess I’m not the only one who had no idea that rags used to apply stain or to clean the brushes used to apply it, could COMBUST if not treated properly.
When working with wood stains or paints (especially linseed oil based), you need to be very careful about how you store the rags that are used… they need to be separated, soaked in water and then stored in a metal bucket full of water. They should NOT be left in the garage or anywhere against the house.