Straw Bale Home Destroyed By Owner Gaffe, Pig And Family Escape |
7 Comments |
| By Michael d'Estries in Dumb Ideas | March 30, 2009 | |
I’m a big fan of straw bale homes — one of the most efficient building methods available. So it was with great interest that I spied a headline saying one had been burned down — a rarity since such homes are also highly resistant to fire. Of course, reading a bit further revealed the cause. From the article,
A family of six was burned out of their straw-bale home in Boulder County early Friday after an attempt to thaw pipes with a blowtorch set the structure on fire. Cmdr. Rick Brough, spokesman for the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office, said the owner, Eric Akia, was in the crawl space attempting to thaw frozen pipes when the fire started. The family lost almost everything, including their pet fish, Brough said. The family’s three dogs, cat, parrot and pig were saved. The secluded home was on an unplowed road, making it difficult for firefighters to reach. Snowplows had to first clear the road.
Obviously, we’re happy that everyone escaped (sans fish, RIP), including the pig — which just adds a bit of humor to the whole straw theme. As one commenter noted: “Cable TV (DIY Network) has taught me never to attempt to thaw frozen pipes with a torch, but with a hairdryer. Fire is one risk, but so is boiling the water inside the pipes and damaging them.” Good point.
We wish this family the best in recovering from their loss — and hope they’ll once more consider building a straw bale home.
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Shreela said,
I’m wondering if a “traditionally” built house would have burned under the same circumstances, since I don’t have experience with freezing pipes (I live on the Gulf Coast).
Linda Kellogg said,
Are you serious? Is this an April Fools Day joke?
Lua Sage Fisher said,
You are correct about straw bale construction. What was not correct was the newspaper article describing the house. The house was 2000 sf. Of that, the initial structure was straw bale covered with cement stucco. 1600sf was stick frame. The fire caught in the stick frame portion of the house. It went up like a torch, burning the entire thing within ten minutes. Then, it took another 4 or 5 hours to burn the straw bales. The firemen finally started pushing the straw walls into the fire to finish the job, since they were simply smoldering away, NOT burning.
There were a great many jokes made at my son’s expense with the theme mud, straw, and pigs. It was standard straw bale construction: straw covered with cement stucco on both sides. We live on a farm with cows, pigs, chickens, and goats. The piglet (a small baby) was in the house because he was the only survivor from a litter that had been born a few days before and was being given extra care. My daughter-in-law realized that the piglet was still inside after she had gotten all of her children out of the house. It was in the pantry right next to the door, so she ran back inside to grab the piglet. None of the so-called “news” articles had the grace to comment on my 8 year old grandson’s presence of mind when he grabbed the parrot out of its cage as he was running from the house, or my 13 year old grandson’s action of grabbing the fire extinguisher from the front porch and running around the house to give it to his dad.
And in the comments section, there seem to be a never-ending supply of jokes about straw huts and pigs, but not one sliver of recognition that a family of six are now homeless and have lost every shred of everything they owned.
Lua Sage Fisher, mother, grandmother, mother-in-law, and grieving elder.
Richard said,
I understand the pain of the loss and won’t be making any jokes. But I also don’t believe the people who think straw houses are resistant to fire.
Just as homes that have attic insulation made from “fire retardent” “treated” shredded newspaper, the straw house is packed with cellulose. Regardless of the retardant used, it only prevents open burning (flames) in a high oxygen (room or outdoor) environment. The retardant evaporates or sublimates at high (+400 deg) temperatures, leaving just flammable carbonized cellulose. The only reason insulation burns slowly is the lack of direct access to oxygen. Because it insulates so well, if it is smoldering, it develops and retains enormous heat. That’s why once ignited it is almost impossible to extinguish.
In virtually every text on the science of firefighting there is a caution about the futility of fighting fires in hay barns. It cannot be extinguished without tearing it all apart, while thoroughly wetting all of it. A house built with hay is only marginally different than a hay barn for having protected the hay from heat exposure. But if a fire starts in it (hot electrical short, light fixture, exposure to fire in a “stick-built” section, etc.), it will have to be destroyed to be saved.
Who knows? Maybe it won’t happen again. But I wouldn’t advise hay being used as a building material unless it is the only affordable insulation option.
Emily said,
Straw bale construction is actually quite resistant to flame. I am currently studying fire protection engineering at Oklahoma State University and am working on a project for a fire dynamics class on Straw bale construction as more fire resistant than traditional construction methods. In a hay barn you have loose hay everywhere also, this presents a large part of the danger, also, it’s important to remember how different hay and straw are. When done correctly, straw bale insulated walls can withstand direct flame for more than 2 hrs. before penetration, compared to just 30 minutes with conventional framing.
mr smarty said,
Sometimes people feel compelled to comment on things they don’t understand fully, such as the difference between straw and hay, and what the difference is of a “hay” barn and a straw bale home. This is almost like talking about apples and oranges, but, go figure, most people hear something and just want to run out naked to ridicule, armed with no real information or facts. I shake my head to be surrounded by such ignorance.
Sorry for your loss and humiliation, nothing is worse than taking a lose at somebody’s laugh. Let them go, focus on a redesign and rebuild, it will be fun. I just had to start over in my life as well. Nothing wrong with that, it happens.
regards.
jamesehaze said,
I too must comment on richards rant of the combustability of straw bale homes,,, there are countless scientific studies of the resistance of stucced straw to fire… look them up richard before you spread dis information… you constantly used the word hay… there is a huge difference… as for real life.. I was involved in the autabaugh canyon fire in south dakota in 2007 and my nieghbors straw bale home collapesed after all the timber framing burned but the straw was still intact when they bulldozed the remains. I too feel sorry for those burned out. the psychological deppresion after such an event is overwhelming… hang in there