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45 Degrees North: Rethinking Where Stuff Goes [1]

['Donna Kallner', 'The Daily Yonder', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Coauthors.Is-Layout-Flow', 'Class', 'Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus', 'Display Inline', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Avatar', 'Where Img', 'Height Auto Max-Width', 'Vertical-Align Bottom .Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Coauthors.Is-Layout-Flow .Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Avatar']

Date: 2025-07-18

A neighbor recently asked me a question that’s been weighing on his mind since a friend’s house burned a couple of years back: Is the way I store ammunition safe if I have a fire? He was particularly concerned about the potential danger to people in the fire department.

It’s a good question to ask, and not just about ammo and risks to firefighters.

In many rural areas, there are fewer passersby who might notice smoke and call 911. And it can feel like it takes a long time for firefighters to arrive at a fire call. Our communities are often served by unpaid volunteers who cover large geographic areas, responding from work or home rather than from a station staffed 24/7/365.

There’s time for a problem to grow before firefighters can attack it. In the meantime, it’s tempting for an occupant, a neighbor, or a passerby to want to do something right now. And that can be deadly.

The potential hazards of contents in a structure fire are not unique to rural areas, and ammo certainly isn’t the only concern. A building doesn’t even have to be fully engulfed: A fire smouldering in proximity to household furnishings can produce deadly smoke and gases even if you never spot flames.

So let’s take a hard look at our stuff, whether we should rethink where and how we store things, and what to do and not do in a fire.

Ammunition and Firearms

I’ve been on several fires where the first units on the scene heard ammo explode. It’s disconcerting, but somewhat less so than the barrage of handgun fire I heard one New Year’s Eve when visiting relatives in an urban area. I guess that was pretty common there.

What’s common here, on the other hand, is for a household to have leftover boxes of shells and bullets stored from past hunting seasons and shooting sports. The Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers Institute recommends that ammunition be stored in its original packaging or other packaging designed for the purpose (such as metal or plastic ammo cans) and separate from heat sources, open flames, and firearms. Because outside the confined space of a firearm chamber, the smokeless powder used in modern sporting ammunition has limited potential to launch a projectile with deadly force beyond, say, the span of a room or through a sheet of drywall. This video shows a number of fire scenarios in which sporting ammunition might be present.

Loaded weapons are another matter in a fire. I once heard a 911 dispatcher relay information to a fire incident commander from the homeowner about the location of loaded weapons in a structure. Because those could discharge with deadly force.

Furnishings

It’s hard to imagine the 911 caller who warns that the smoke-filled living room contains polyolefin carpet and polyurethane padding, polyester curtains, an engineered wood coffee table, and recliners, a loveseat, and a sofa stuffed with polyurethane foam and upholstered with polyester fabrics. Those synthetic materials are so common in today’s homes, we hardly think about them.

But we definitely should consider what happens when they burn.

As a fire gets going inside a structure, it can consume most of the available oxygen, which can slow the burning process. While that sounds like a good thing, incomplete combustion can result in toxic gases and smoke, which can incapacitate occupants so quickly they can’t make it to an otherwise accessible exit.

A “room and contents” fire can reach flashover within three to four minutes from the time of ignition. And even if it isn’t engulfed in flames, a room may be shrouded in heat and fuel-rich smoke and gases ready to ignite once outside air is introduced into the structure. Such as when an occupant, a neighbor, or a passerby who wants to do something right now opens a door.

The best thing to do is to get out and stay out, closing doors behind you to reduce oxygen available to feed the fire.

Lithium-ion Batteries

Lithium-ion batteries power everything from cell phones and laptops to e-bikes, power tools, and robotic vacuum cleaners. They also can reach temperatures hotter than a conventional gasoline fire, release gases that can be lethal in enclosed spaces, and reignite hours to days after appearing to be extinguished. Your rural volunteer fire department would definitely want a heads-up if they might be walking into a structure fire involving lithium-ion batteries.

You can help prevent those fires. For example, use only batteries and charging units specifically made for the device. Know and follow the manufacturer’s instructions and safety information for use, storage, charging, and maintenance. Don’t leave items unattended while charging or in the charger overnight. Don’t charge devices on or near surfaces that can ignite. Don’t overload electrical outlets while charging. Stop charging a battery once it is full. And stop using any device that shows signs of damage, including an unusual odor or sounds, is hot to the touch, or is not holding a charge.

Flammable and Combustible Liquids

Technically, what distinguishes flammable from combustible liquids is the temperature at which they give off enough vapor to ignite in the presence of an ignition source. It’s kind of a po-tay-toe, po-tah-toe distinction, though, when you think about what can set your property on fire.

But it can help you decide where and how to store certain things.

For example, flammable liquids like gasoline, ethanol, and propane have a flashpoint below 100°F. Combustible liquids like diesel fuel, motor oil, and kerosene have a flash point between 100°F and 200°F. When the tree that shades the detached garage or shed where you store fuel for the lawnmower is lost, you may need to rethink what you store in that structure. An area that gets so hot you wouldn’t leave an infant or pet there is not suitable for flammable or combustible liquids.

Flammable liquid vapors are heavier than air and can accumulate at the floor or ground level. So, flammable and combustible liquids should be stored at least 10 feet away from any potential ignition source. That includes a furnace or other heat source, the water heater, and the clothes dryer. It includes grills, smokers, and the old stove you use for canning. And it includes one often overlooked potential ignition source – electrical outlets.

Ideally, we could all store our flammables and combustibles in a shed or garage constructed of metal, concrete, or other fire-resistant materials. Make that a well-ventilated shed or detached garage situated well away from other structures.

Multi-Purpose Spaces

The growing popularity of barndominiums and shouses adds a wrinkle to storage considerations. Space management considerations can be more flexible in these modern constructions than, say, in a traditional house plus attached garage. When combining living space with storage and/or shop space, it’s crucial to plan for storage that can disperse fumes and decrease opportunities for exposing flammables to potential ignition sources. That might mean investing in flammables storage cabinets, for example.

It’s also vital to keep shop areas clean and orderly. Garage fires tend to spread farther and cause more injuries and dollar loss than fires that start in all other areas of the home. A snowmobile that backfires a spark that igniting a fuel spill can quickly spread. Our volunteer fire department once responded to a detached garage fire that destroyed multiple vehicles, including snowmobiles and ATVs, plus a motorhome parked outside. The consequences could have been even more serious in a space that incorporated living quarters.

An Ounce of Prevention

Let’s be real: We’re not giving up our lithium-ion-powered devices or our comfy recliners. Sadly, those are probably of greater concern in a fire situation than the shotgun shells my husband has accumulated in gauges and loads suitable for everything from sporting clays to wild turkeys. But here’s what we can do:

We can make sure that smoke and carbon monoxide detectors are properly installed in all the recommended areas, tested monthly, and replaced at least every 10 years. We can update our home fire escape plan and practice until shutting doors behind us is automatic. We can plug only one charging device into an outlet at a time (which means moving my fire department pager to a less convenient location – and there goes my dream of ever docking a robotic vacuum cleaner). We can shop for one of those flammable storage cabinets for the fuels for the lawnmower, string trimmer, and chainsaw. We can be better about getting rid of boxes that accumulate in the basement (not near any potential ignition source, but seriously – some have been there a looooong time).

And we can practice the inventory of hazards we might report to the 911 operator if we were to have a fire. It probably would include shotgun shells.

But I’ve given up on the Roomba.

Donna Kallner writes from Langlade County in rural northern Wisconsin.

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