I almost caught my local gun range on fire.

[lonehoosier]

Today I went in to my local indoor gun range to sight in my sons new 10/22 for a Appleseed that we are doing in late September. I needed something to support the rifle so I could sight it in. So I grabbed the 5 gallon bucket off the floor to steady myself.


I was doing three shots per mag. I got to my third set, after the last shot fired I took the rifle off the bucket and started to drop out the mag and relies that the bucket was on fire. The flames were touching the ceiling. At this time I grabbed the bucket and put it on the floor and it was still shooting flame out of it. I attempted to knock the bucket over and get it upside down to hopefully get the oxygen out of the bucket to put the fire out which I succeeded.

The hole incident seemed to last about five seconds but I don't know.


It was pretty smoky in there but after a minute or so the fans sucked all the smoke out of the range.

The bucket that I grabbed to use as a rest was the bucket to collect brass. There was only maybe about a dust pan full of brass in it. What I think happened was when I fired that last shot a hot .22 brass fell into the bucket and ignited all the unspent gunpowder inside the bucket.


I seen this done 100 times at the range, people using these five gallon buckets to rest on. I never would've thought for a second that this could have happen. Just let this be a warning to you.


I'm doing alright. The hair on my hand got a little singe but nothing too bad. The biggest thing that hurts is my ego.

 

[darkkevin]

holy crap, who'da ever thought that could happen! glad you're ok. (you blocked sadclown from reading this post right?)

 

[indydrew1]

So what did the range master say, or the employees, there reaction. As you said this is a common thing (using the bucket, not the fire).

 

[lonehoosier]

So what did the range master say, or the employees, there reaction. As you said this is a common thing (using the bucket, not the fire).

I told them that the fire was out and what I think had happened. They did not say much about it. I was there for about 45 minutes after the incident.

 

[armedindy]

thanks for sharing..now we know

 

[Pinkzebraglockgirl]

Being in there shooting at the same time in the next lane over I was in complete shock. I saw a huge flash, stopped shooting, set my gun down on the table rest and as I peaked around the wall, i saw huge flames and I jumped back as my sister hopped into the lane for cover. I expected for him to tell me he had a bad round or something not to see a bucket of flames. My sister and I both froze, not seeing an extinguisher I thought should I go under the table rest towards down range to another bay to get out by the door, but jay put that fire out with his quick thinking. I'm glad it was him because I froze and others may have as well and there could have been a huge fire. It could have happened to anyone, we have to be prepared and I think they need to have an extinguisher just in case anything like this happens again. We could have been sweeping up hot brass and dropped it in thebucket and the same thing could have happened. Great job with your quick thinking. Although my sister who has never been to the range and it took me a year to get her there probably won't be going anytime soon.

 

[lonehoosier]

Being in there shooting at the same time in the next lane over I was in complete shock. I saw a huge flash, stopped shooting, set my gun down on the table rest and as I peaked around the wall, i saw huge flames and I jumped back as my sister hopped into the lane for cover. I expected for him to tell me he had a bad round or something not to see a bucket of flames. My sister and I both froze, not seeing an extinguisher I thought should I go under the table rest towards down range to another bay to get out by the door, but jay put that fire out with his quick thinking. I'm glad it was him because I froze and others may have as well and there could have been a huge fire. It could have happened to anyone, we have to be prepared and I think they need to have an extinguisher just in case anything like this happens again. We could have been sweeping up hot brass and dropped it in thebucket and the same thing could have happened. Great job with your quick thinking. Although my sister who has never been to the range and it took me a year to get her there probably won't be going anytime soon.

WOW you remember it bitter then I do. It happen so fast. Sorry about your sister.

 

[DoggyDaddy]

Being in there shooting at the same time in the next lane over I was in complete shock. I saw a huge flash, stopped shooting, set my gun down on the table rest and as I peaked around the wall, i saw huge flames and I jumped back as my sister hopped into the lane for cover. I expected for him to tell me he had a bad round or something not to see a bucket of flames. My sister and I both froze, not seeing an extinguisher I thought should I go under the table rest towards down range to another bay to get out by the door, but jay put that fire out with his quick thinking. I'm glad it was him because I froze and others may have as well and there could have been a huge fire. It could have happened to anyone, we have to be prepared and I think they need to have an extinguisher just in case anything like this happens again. We could have been sweeping up hot brass and dropped it in thebucket and the same thing could have happened. Great job with your quick thinking. Although my sister who has never been to the range and it took me a year to get her there probably won't be going anytime soon.

Extinguisher would be a great idea! Come to think of it, I don't recall ever seeing an extinguisher at any range, indoor or out. If any range owners are reading this, I hope they take it to heart.

Glad everyone was safe in the end!

 

[Pinkzebraglockgirl]

It was super fast but it's like slow motion when u r in shock. I should have tried shooting after that since my adrenaline was flowering to see how I really shoot with adrenaline flowing but didn't have anymore time. I'm sure my sister will go again....hey I got her to shoot 10 rounds from my 22, she wouldn't go bigger but it's a start.

 

[Ericpwp]

Siiiissssttteeerrrrr? (channeling Jedi)

I heard of a flash in the pan, but a fire in the bucket??? Just kidding. Good thing you didn't catch fire. Nice to know the vents work well.

I was at Kingsbury once when the clay range was set ablaze. The FD showed up for that one.

I didn't realize there was so much unburnt powder in brass.

 

[BogWalker]

Extinguisher would be a great idea! Come to think of it, I don't recall ever seeing an extinguisher at any range, indoor or out. If any range owners are reading this, I hope they take it to heart.

Glad everyone was safe in the end!

Would make sense. I've heard of more than one indoor range go up in smoke.

 

[bigretic]

Personally, I've never seen anyone us a bucket as gun rest. Weird.
Glad everyone is ok.

 

[jedi]

Siiiissssttteeerrrrr? (channeling Jedi)

I heard of a flash in the pan, but a fire in the bucket??? Just kidding. Good thing you didn't catch fire. Nice to know the vents work well.

I was at Kingsbury once when the clay range was set ablaze. The FD showed up for that one.

I didn't realize there was so much unburnt powder in brass.

it's ssssssiiiiisssssstttttteeeeerrrrrrrr mmmuuuuaaaahhhhhh
in an evil voice.

btw glad to see your are still around have not seen a post from you in a while.

@pinkglockgirl please tell you you beat the ***** out of jay or at least kicked him in that broken leg of his for doing this and almost causing our indoor range to go up in flames. he needs a good whipping for this one.

calling t-star!!!!

 

[92ThoStro]

They all have fire extinguishers. Most places don't have fire extinguishers easily accessed by customers and they are for use by employees. It would help to have one where a customer can get to it, but some people will freak at the sight of something you can put out with your foot. The extinguishers are kept serviced and tagged and the fire department showing up is bad for business.

 

[Cameramonkey]

They all have fire extinguishers. Most places don't have fire extinguishers easily accessed by customers and they are for use by employees. It would help to have one where a customer can get to it, but some people will freak at the sight of something you can put out with your foot. The extinguishers are kept serviced and tagged and the fire department showing up is bad for business.

THIS. I work for a fire protection company. Trust me, your local Fire Marshal makes sure there are enough extinguishers in the building. We get multiple calls per week of "um, yeah, can you get somebody out here ASAP? The fire dept is here doing a surprise inspection. We goofed and dont have enough [insert fire equipment/FA sensors] here and were told we need to shut down or pay somebody 24/7 to do fire watch until its fixed.

Its always a good idea to make sure you not only know where the exits are, but also where the nearest extinguishers are.

 

[avcautoinc]

Wow that's a crazy story, thanks for sharing.

 

[JetGirl]

The flames were touching the ceiling.


hot .22 brass fell into the bucket and ignited all the unspent gunpowder inside the bucket.

I don't know... I'd be real interested in knowing what it really was, but I'm not inclined to think it was smokeless powder.
Reason being, I've touched off powder and it's more of a sparkler show and *pfft* gone. It burns too fast to remain a long flame. At least that's been my experience. YMMV

 

[lonehoosier]

I don't know... I'd be real interested in knowing what it really was, but I'm not inclined to think it was smokeless powder.
Reason being, I've touched off powder and it's more of a sparkler show and *pfft* gone. It burns too fast to remain a long flame. At least that's been my experience. YMMV

I guess now that I think about it, the fire was a blue sparkly flame. I'm sure those buckets are not cleaned out every time that they are emptied so there's weeks of gun powder lift in them. I'm sure it would have burned it self out but the heat and flame could have caught something else on fire and I was not going to wait to see. I know the lights over the bench had a black haze on them. I know these range has video of the firing line. It would be great to see it.

 

[JetGirl]

I guess now that I think about it, the fire was a blue sparkly flame.

Here's a couple videos (parts slowed way down).
Did it sorta look like this? (Keep in mind, they are burning a LOT more powder than what was probably in your bucket...


?????????? ?????????? ?????? - YouTube

Accurate No. 5 Smokeless Powder - YouTube

Differences In Smokeless Powder Burn Rate - YouTube

 

[Cameramonkey]

Maybe used patches soaked in solvent tossed in for good measure? I too think smokeless powder would be a much faster burn... And how do you get THAT. Much unburned powder in the bucket? I would expect it to all have burned during firing. Unless somebody dumped in some loose powder.