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RE: Old Firefighters Never Die: They Just Smell Smoky
Yeah, I guess there isn't much you could do as a fire fighter, other than try to prevent buildings near by from igniting.
But they didn't want to extinguish the fire anyway, from what I read, because that would have washed even more alcohol into a river.
The damage must be tremendous. Even though the booze is not as expensive to make as its sold in the shop. But 45,000 wooden barrels got destroyed, too. They easily cost $100 or more a piece. And there is no big wood barrel production nowadays, as there was in the 19th century. Each one gets hand made by specialist workmen. There are some interesting videos on YouTube about that. So it will take some time to replace them, and lots of money.
That's exactly right: With certain types of materials, you're much better letting it burn off than fight it, to prevent contamination. A lot of hazardous materials are destroyed by high temperatures, so the smoke is "just" smoke--not that the smoke is that much fun, but at least it's not going into the water supply.
My wife and I watch a show called How It's Made, and they covered making those barrels once. Much to my surprise, we're both fascinated by the process of manufacturing various kinds of things. My favorite was fire helmets; hers was saddles.
I guess there wasn't much they could have done, except for letting it burn in a half way controlled manner.
Those barrels hold about 150 ltrs each - so 45,000 barrels is roughly 6.8 mio (!) ltrs of booze. Usually Whiskey has 42% alcohol, so we are talking about close to 3 mio ltrs - or 3000 tons - of pure alcohol. If that has reached a certain temperature, nothing in the world puts that fire out.
And if they would try to wash it away with lots of water, it end up in some river . I don't think the fish will appreciate the free drinks.
Yes, I've seen that How its Made show as well, quiete interesting to see the production even of everyday things. Usually we don't really think about how some stuff is made, and in which incredible amounts its made.
Other trades have nearly died out. There is probably less than a dozen people in Germany who still make saddles. Or baskets out of willow twiggs. It used to be thousands of people in the old days, but today nobody can pay the labour cost anymore. A decent saddle made in Germany costs about 4000 Euro, they said.
Yep, that's exactly what we do in cases like that: controlled burns, protecting the exposures and limiting runoff. And alcohol is way worse than most flammable liquids, being not only more volatile but also, in some cases, burning with an invisible flame. Not only that, but normal foam, designed for putting out petroleum type fires, is broken down by alcohol--only expensive and less common "alcohol foam" works on it, and only on smaller alcohol fires ... nothing like this.
Just yesterday Emily and I watched them make a banjo--out of linen. And in the same episode, coincidentally, they were making whiskey barrels. I'll bet that guy is working overtime now.
Yes, I have seen that at NASCAR races, where they use Methanol as fuel. Or is it Indycar... anyway. When they spilled Methanol during the pitstop and it ignites, you first see nothing. Then everybody starts jumping around like mad, and then the advertising banners start to melt and burn, at which point there are visible flames and smoke. They used to extinguish the fire with water, which dilutes the alcohol. But at a very early stage of course, and its only a few litres, not millions.
Banjos... are they not build like a drum? With a metal ring that has a skin stretched over it? Other than that its pretty similar to a guitar, I guess. That linen is used for that I have not heard before.
Yes, the barrel makers are seeing a boom in business now, I'm sure. The booze company has to get their stock back up, to avoid a gap in availability after the given maturing period. Well there will be some gap already, but they will try to keep it as short as possible.
Well, may be the barrel makers can ramp up their production somewhat, but not indefinatly. For one, not everybody can simply start making barrels, its quiet a art as you have seen. And also, they wont invest too much money in expanding their workshops, since its only a temporary boom. But the price for wooden barrels might shoot up quiet a bit for a while... :)
Yep, that's the way it happens at Indy Car races ... I don't know about NASCAR. Honestly, I don't watch much racing one way or another, so I've mostly seen this in training. Water works on the small ones just fine ... but you'd better have enough water!
I guess banjos are a lot like a guitar, but even after watching them being built I'm not real clear on the differences. It was the linen part that really startled me.
Maybe I'd better go out and get my whisky barrels while I can!
Could well be Indycar, its a while that I watched it. Today its only on pay TV sports channels, which I don't have. I only see snippets on YouTube sometimes.
Btw, full coverage on YouTube has a new, interesting racing series: Formula E. You may have guessed it... yes, E is for electric. They are making a good show with that. Lots of famous drivers in it, mostly former F1 and Touring car guys. And one of the commentators is Dario Francchitti (yes, the scottish guy as the name suggests) the Indycar champion and Indy 500 winner ect., 20 years back or so. They just had their big season finale in NYC - if you want to take a look:
If they are on fire, water would not be such a good idea, I guess. Although, they can drive in rain and all.
Perhaps you should check in your garage or the attic, if there is a old barrel in a corner still. Might be a good time to sell it now. :)
An electric car race, huh? I like it! I'm sure those cars are well insulated from problems with rain, or puddles, or anything like that. When they catch on fire, or when they crash and someone's pinned inside--well, that can be a problem. We've had training on electric cars, and it basically boils down to trying to get the main power shut off.
Formula E is a pretty interesting series. Interesting to watch, and well organised and produced. The race tracks are mostly temporary tracks inside cities like Rome, Mexico City, Paris, Bern, Berlin ect.
What's puzzling at first is, that they are so silent. Usually it's a hell of a noise when a bunch of race cars drives by - but these are only humming. You can even hear it if they collide a little bit.
But yes, them being electric requires some precautions. They have a massive battery pack in them, that allows them to drive for 45 minutes at race speed - and thats up to 170 mph.
If a car breaks down, they have to disengage the battery before they start salvage work. Usually the driver does that with a master switch, and there is a light in front of the cockpit that shows its status. Over all, the cars are very safe, kind of Formula 1 standard. This year was the 5th season and nobody got seriously hurt so far, and there was no incidents with the batteries bursting into flames. But it can happen of course, as we know from mobile phones and other devices with Lithium batteries. Tesla cars have had such issues, too, but not often. And its not as if petrol cars never catch fire - even without any accident. Seen that myself on the motorway: a whole family standing in a field, watching their nice Mercedes burn down on the hard shoulder of the motorway.
But in a accident it can easily become a fire hazard if Lithium batteries get damaged, as this video shows:
This is from a popular british motor show, formely known as "Top Gear", until the BBC cancelled the show and Amazon hired the 3 guys who were in it.
And in one episode they took part in a hill climb race in Switzerland, I think, each with a different car. Richard Hammond, who they like to play jokes on, got a 1 million Euro worth prototype electric car from the Kroatitian company Rimac, with 1200 bhp. No pressure, you know... :)
And after crossing the finish line, he... well, forgot to brake in time and went down a hill side. He broke a leg in this and the car went up in smoke. Luckily some people managed to pull him out of the car fast enough. That was in 2017.