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  #11  
Old 10-10-2007, 05:03 PM
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CPMcGraw CPMcGraw is offline
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I mentioned this in another thread earlier, but this is a good place to say it again. I now carry along with me one of those patio deck grill mats to set my launch pad on. It's heavy, so it doesn't blow around in a breeze. It is also designed to catch those burning embers from a grill and prevent them from burning through the deck wood. Using it as a ground protector under a pad seems to be a good additional piece of insurance.
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  #12  
Old 10-10-2007, 07:21 PM
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Take the photos you guys saw, supersize the fire, and think about doing that at least two or three times a week plus a half dozen times each weekend and you'll know what I did all summer in the "great drought of 2007".

Idiots seem to think that burn bans only apply to other people and that they are too smart to let a fire get away from them. Almost all of our grass and forest fires started out as "controlled" burns. We only had a handful that were truly accidental started by cigarettes, freight trains, etc.

How large is that grill mat? That's a better solution than wetting an area down, because the summer heat/wind will dry it out pretty fast.
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  #13  
Old 10-10-2007, 07:40 PM
Rocket Doctor Rocket Doctor is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ltvscout
You mean something like... this?



I won't say his name either, but for the BTC's out there who should know him from a few years back his initials are PP.

I could've sworn I had another picture somewhere that shows the aftermath, but I can't seem to find it. I'll post it if I come across it.

Now, did I ever tell you guys about the time that another club member fried our contest computer by hooking red to negative and black to positive? I believe his initials are KS.



Isn't that Roswell circa the 40's, I really knew a UFO landed, now, here's proof !!!
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  #14  
Old 10-10-2007, 09:24 PM
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CPMcGraw CPMcGraw is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tbzep
..How large is that grill mat? That's a better solution than wetting an area down, because the summer heat/wind will dry it out pretty fast.


They come in varying sizes, and I bought the largest I saw. It's about 24" x 36". It might be overkill in size, but I was actually looking for something larger. It was less than $20, IIRC, at Lowes.

One clarification -- these are for use with GAS grills, not charcoal grills. In fact, on the back in very tiny print on a very tiny tag, it says "charcoal embers may melt mat". Look around, though, and there's probably one for charcoal grills. May be a little more expensive than this one. Given what comes out of our models at launch time, I don't think I really have that much to worry about hitting this mat. It's more to prevent anything from hitting the ground...
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  #15  
Old 10-10-2007, 10:11 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CPMcGraw
They come in varying sizes, and I bought the largest I saw. It's about 24" x 36". It might be overkill in size, but I was actually looking for something larger. It was less than $20, IIRC, at Lowes.

One clarification -- these are for use with GAS grills, not charcoal grills. In fact, on the back in very tiny print on a very tiny tag, it says "charcoal embers may melt mat". Look around, though, and there's probably one for charcoal grills. May be a little more expensive than this one. Given what comes out of our models at launch time, I don't think I really have that much to worry about hitting this mat. It's more to prevent anything from hitting the ground...


I don't think it's overkill. You've seen propellant grains fly every which way when they CATO, so the larger the better.
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  #16  
Old 10-10-2007, 10:32 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Rocket Doctor
I decided to start a seperate thread dealing with launch site safety.
Adding to the good inputs regarding fire safety, here's a great post from Jim Ballard. He runs the West Texas Rocket club in the Midland/Odessa area, has his L3, and is a firefighter by trade. It was posted to the Texas HPR Yahoo group. You'll have to join the list to see the entire thread, but here's a great excerpt.

It's mostly common sense, but when there's the stress of a brush fire, we're not always cool headed enough to think straight. After reading it, the part about where to be when fighting the fire is indelibly etched in my brain.

Doug
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jim Ballard on THPRA
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/THPRA...l/message/22333

Chuck,

First of all prevention is your best tool. In very dry
conditions a little time spent keeping the pad area
damp is well worth the trouble and time. Mowing the
area around the pads is a good as well. ( less fuel
means smaller fire, and much easier to contain )

In order to effectively fight a grass/brush fire an
adequate water supply must be on hand. At most
launches, at least that I have attended, the water
supply on hand is only adequate for a quick response
to the point of origin. Most of the time this is all
thats needed, if you have taken some preventive
measures before hand.

If you find yourself fighting a grass fire on foot,
fight it from the burned side. This means you will be
UPWIND of the fire. DO NOT get in the path of a
grass/brush fire unless you are mobile, and have
copius amounts of water. Don't bet your life that you
can outrun it. If the fire is becoming unmanageable
stop and get away, someone should have already made a
phone call.

I have seen very few fires at launches, I think the
Texas Rocketry community does a very good job in
reducing fire risk, and in prevention.


Jim B.
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  #17  
Old 10-10-2007, 10:46 PM
James Pierson James Pierson is offline
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I remember one August day when I live on 40 acres in Missouri and we started a small burn pile out by the garden. We walked away to do work eslewhere for a while and then the wind picked up. We soon discovered that about 1/2 acre of dry grass was fully ablaze . I was sent off running for two 5 gallon buckets of water and two burlap sacks. We beat out the fire with the wet burlap sacks which worked really well. We suffered some minor burns to ourselves though, mostly burnt arm hair. Looking back I cannot say that it was much fun though .

PS. If you have ever ran with two full 5 gallon buckets of water, by the time you get where you're going thay are only half full if you're lucky , JP

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  #18  
Old 10-11-2007, 07:19 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Doug Sams
Adding to the good inputs regarding fire safety, here's a great post from Jim Ballard. He runs the West Texas Rocket club in the Midland/Odessa area, has his L3, and is a firefighter by trade. It was posted to the Texas HPR Yahoo group. You'll have to join the list to see the entire thread, but here's a great excerpt.

It's mostly common sense, but when there's the stress of a brush fire, we're not always cool headed enough to think straight. After reading it, the part about where to be when fighting the fire is indelibly etched in my brain.

Doug


He echoed the things I've said. However, I think one thing should be clarified. He said to fight the fire from the burned side. If you are inside the burned area, you can still face the wind or have your back to it. Fight the fire from the burned side with the wind to your back, because that's the side that will travel the fastest. The upwind fire will be moving against the wind and travel much slower.
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  #19  
Old 10-11-2007, 10:11 AM
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Royatl Royatl is offline
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Someone just joined SoAR online, and this was in his comments:
"Haven't flown in 15 years, last weekend flew off a field behind
the Mall of GA and set it on fire, had to call Fire Dept. Better join the club...!"


Didn't hear anything about it on the news, so I guess it wasn't a biggie!
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  #20  
Old 10-11-2007, 03:38 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tbzep
He echoed the things I've said. However, I think one thing should be clarified. He said to fight the fire from the burned side. If you are inside the burned area, you can still face the wind or have your back to it. Fight the fire from the burned side with the wind to your back, because that's the side that will travel the fastest. The upwind fire will be moving against the wind and travel much slower.
Good points, Tim. Thinking about it some more, it's now clear that there will be a fast side and a slow side to a typical grass or brush fire. Positioning will be much more critical on the fast side.

The key is to not get caught downwind in the tinder.

Interestingly enough, this came up at lunch yesterday. I dine every Wednesday with the DARS lunch crew, and we were discussing fires. One of the guys pointed out that grass fires have been clocked at up to 800 yards per minute. That's 2400 feet or about 30 mph. I know for sure I can't do 30, so I wouldn't want to have to outrun one

Doug
Recalling an old Richard Widmark film about a forest fire with Frank Gorshin as the bad guy...
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