Firefighters, house fires, and ammunition

[jdm]

I read or heard somewhere that if local firefighters arrive at the scene of a house fire and find out that there is firearm ammunition in the burning house, they will back off and let the house burn itself out rather than put out the fire. For their safety or somesuch. Of course that is bad for the homeowner since you lose your house. Even a good fireproof safe is only good for an hour or so at a moderate fire temperature and your things in the firesafe will be gone in the event the whole house burns down.

Are there any firefighters or somebody in the know that can comment on this?

Does anybody keep their ammo in a firesafe? Will keeping your ammo in a metal box or ammo can help contain exploding ammo in case of a house fire?

[WildBill]

Does anybody keep their ammo in a firesafe? Will keeping your ammo in a metal box or ammo can help contain exploding ammo in case of a house fire?

I suggest keeping ammo in military ammo boxes. This will keep them in the dark, dry and free of dirt, dust, insects, etc. I can't speak for the firefighters policies, but ammo doesn't explode in a fire.

[M9FAN]

...but ammo doesn't explode in a fire.

+1 I've heard the same thing...

[jdm]

Ammo in a fire does not explode all at once like a bomb. It usually does not send bullets flying at the same velocity as if it were in a gun barrel. It can (based on personal experience as a stupid, stupid kid putting .22 and .410 in a fire) make distinctive firecracker like sounds.

Some of the video from Iraq, where the "authorities" burned huge piles of captured terrorist guns, ammo, bombs, rockets, etc. also showed the firecracker sound and rounds cooking off. I'll see if I can find this on youtube.

[seamusTX]

I consider this an Internet rumor.

I suggest you call your local fire department and ask them what their policy is.

Half the homes in the U.S. have firearms and at least a little ammunition in them. You can find news stories where firefighters put out fires in houses that turned out to contain a lot of ammunition.

Does anyone remember this story? Guy had a million rounds of ammunition and 75 pounds of black powder in his house.

- Jim

[flintknapper]

When my brother in law's house burned... they went in while a bunch of .22 rimfire was cooking off.

First thing they did was cut the electricity, then the water, then asked about gas service (he had none).

They didn't seemed fazed at all about the ammo.

Also, the bullet/cartridge (unless confined in a firearm) isn't going to go anywhere with enough force to do anything. The brass case in generally much lighter than the the projectile...so it will be the item that moves the most (and that isn't much).

A cartridge chambered in a firearm would be a real concern though.

[barres]

I would think the only real danger would be those firearms that are kept loaded. As others have said, with no chamber support, the lighter case will be the object moving from a cooked-off round, not the heavier bullet.

[seamusTX]

A cartridge chambered in a firearm would be a real concern though.

This is a reason that all firearms must be pointed in a safe direction, even if they are being stored loaded.

I would think that a gun safe would contain a bullet, though I don't know for sure.

Other than that, the safe direction would depend upon your house.

In my case, I have no basement and no slab under my house, so pointing at the floor will endanger no one (except the possums that live under the house).

- Jim

[Originalist]

From my experience fighting fires (volunteer before I joined the USAF) there are alot of things that go snap, crackle, pop. It would be very hard to discern the difference from the finish on your desk making the noise or ammo. Plus you are in full turn out gear, nomex hood and SCBA so your hearing is diminished a good deal. Unless you had 'stockpiles" of ammo most firefighter's wouldn't even ever know, unless you told them.

[jdm]

How much is a "stockpile"? According to the liberal media, 1000 rounds is a stockpile. That is 3 shooting or match events for others.

[KD5NRH]

Some of the video from Iraq, where the "authorities" burned huge piles of captured terrorist guns, ammo, bombs, rockets, etc. also showed the firecracker sound and rounds cooking off. I'll see if I can find this on youtube.

That firecracker noise would be the primer cooking off, or possibly tightly seated bullets popping out. As has been said, the powder is pretty anticlimactic without the chamber/barrel to contain it and build a lot more pressure than it can manage in just the case.

[Originalist]

How much is a "stockpile"? According to the liberal media, 1000 rounds is a stockpile. That is 3 shooting or match events for others.

I guess that depends on who you ask, for me.....I guess as long as the roof doesn't blow off...

For the next guy, can't honestly say.

[fire128]

Lets see, I've been a Firefighter for 24 yrs and in those yrs it has never even been a subject that was discussed let alone been some sort of departmental policy. There are many factors which will determine how a structure fire is fought, but I have never had that factor cross my mind when deciding on an aggressive interior attack or a defensive attack.

[flintknapper]

A cartridge chambered in a firearm would be a real concern though.

This is a reason that all firearms must be pointed in a safe direction, even if they are being stored loaded.

I would think that a gun safe would contain a bullet, though I don't know for sure.

Other than that, the safe direction would depend upon your house.

In my case, I have no basement and no slab under my house, so pointing at the floor will endanger no one (except the possums that live under the house).

- Jim

I am pretty sure they (the possums) would be more concerned about the house above them being on fire than the prospects of being shot.

Yummy, roast possum.

[ELB]

I haven't been a firefighter nearly as long as fire128, but in the numerous training sessions I have been in a stockpile of ammunition has not been one of the concerns. There are a lot of other lethal things in a burning house that a firefighter is much more likely to be exposed to -- smoke and really nasty gases from burning synthetic material even before entering a house, as well as inside, the actual fire and heat itself, floor falling in, roof falling in, etc. We've mentioned it in passing in our department, but of course because we all have ammo in our own houses

I have read reports of people who have purposely burned ammunition, and while they got a few rounds to jump around, it didn't go flying off in other directions. The only really significant point of concern I have read is a recent newspaper article about a firefighter shot in the thigh when a burning, loaded (one in the chamber) gun launched a bullet down the pipe. So as seamus said, keep that in mind if you are going to store a loaded gun that won't go out the door with you when you leave the house.

Overall, it's the fire itself, the time of arrival of the firefighters, and the presence of victims in the house that is going to dictate how aggressively the firefighters attack it, not the ammo in your closet.