Fire experts: Under right conditions, rags and towels could spark fire
CHESWICK, Pa. (KDKA) - We are learning more about the fire that destroyed the inside of the Harmar House. According to the owner, internal combustion from freshly cleaned rags was the source.
The exact cause is still under investigation. Crews with the Allegheny County Fire Marshal's Office were out on Tuesday to figure out what started that. KDKA did speak with fire crews about rags could potentially just burst into flames.
All the damage and the continued cleanup are allegedly from rags. Owner Nick Futules posted on Facebook that his surveillance video shows the cleaned laundry turning into an inferno. The fire spread throughout the event center and ruined much of the inside.
"You have to have the perfect recipe to have that," Southern Allegheny Valley Emergency Services Assistant Fire Chief Mike Daniher said.
According to the Southern Allegheny Valley Emergency Service Assistant Fire Chief Mike Daniher, this is extremely rare but possible. If rags have some residue still on them and have been exposed to enough heat, they can catch fire.
"It could happen in the automotive (industry). It could happen in your home kitchen. It could happen in a garage. Most of the time, if you are thinking of oily, raggy things that people have used, including staining or painting," Daniher said on Tuesday.
Back in 2017, a Penn Hills restaurant went up in flames.
The cause? Towels that just came out of laundry, as the video at the time showed.
With some simple steps, this can all be prevented. If you take away either the heat, towels, rags, or oils, a fire can't happen.
"You spread them out, it allows them to cool down, the heat goes away, or if they're washed, and all the oily deposits are removed," Daniher said.
Be thorough in cleaning dish towels or rags with oil. Daniher said to make sure you use enough detergent. It's always good to know if a chemical you are using for cooking or cleaning is flammable. That doesn't mean you should panic the next time you do laundry for your everyday towels.
"If you're using regular bath towels, you're just drying yourself off of some water, there's no concern with that," Daniher said at their Sharpsburg location.
We do have more fire safety tips from the county, which can be found by clicking here.