Canadian figure skating champion Kurt Browning has helped teach people around the world how to do a triple axel. He can now add a lesson on how not to dry out your Porsche convertible.
Browning virtually burned down his mansion and caused 10 fire trucks to fight the blaze after he dried out his Porsche with a leaf blower that he left on in the garage. He reported, however, that his gold medals were saved — as opposed to his dignity.
Source: Toronto Star
This sounds like a Mr. Bean skit.
Man, I tell you one time, I turned a leaf blower into a bong. Man, da shit that came out, was like a head trip. It blew me man. It was like a wonder hit. You should have seen all of de people running. De smoke was following der asses up and down the street. I’ll never do dat again. It set the smoke alarms off and de man came and well, I just out on bail. Dat shit was good. You should try it sometime. Hey man,can I get a little help from my friend? den it was like, I forgot. What was we talking about. Oh yeah, da shit hit the blower and owey. I’ll never be de same.
This is clearly NOT what Brian Boitano would do!
Anyway, I wonder how old that house is? Under current building codes (I’m familiar with the US, but Canadian codes are almost always close) there should be a significant fire separation between the garage and the rest of the house. Ideally, a fire in the garage can be put out before it spreads to the rest of the house. The worst case scenario is a car fire happens in an attached garage late at night, when the occupants of the house are asleep.
If you have an attached garage, at least upgrade your smoke detectors to the “hard wired” type that are all interconnected throughout the house (and make sure you have a detector in the garage, a carbon monoxide detector would also be a very, very good idea!). The idea is that a fire (or carbon monoxide buildup) in the garage will set off all the other detectors in the house, letting you first get out of the house quickly, but also leading to the fire department being called immediately, not after the fire has been burning for a long time.
I’ll try to remember this story when a client gripes about the fire protection parts of the building code. There are an infinite number of novel ways to set your house on fire….
NotSoArrogant goaded Buddha: “I await your response.” To which I can only reply, “Careful what you ask for.” I do so with a wry grin.
You people, as usual, have missed the vital detail. From the Toronto Star article:
“Reached at the Bathurst St. condominium he owns with his wife, ballet dancer Sonia Rodriguez…”
I’m sorry, but all male figure skaters are gay. The whole article is obviously a hoax.
Is the implication that the blower malfunctioned or should have had a safety kill switch? Is someone sifting for a big ol’ lawsuit?
so sorry to Mr. Browning, a house and contents is a lot to lose….
Sorry. Editorial mishap!
“douche bag” should be “humorless douche bag”.
Have a nice day.
All you’ve pointed out is that “in all likelihood” you’re a douche bag.
You don’t like my sense of humor?
Don’t read my posts.
As to superior? No, I don’t feel superior to anyone. I’m probably one of the most egalitarian posters here. I think NO ONE is special.
You obviously do though.
Enjoy your projection.
Buddha Is Laughing,
You have demonstrated that there is a better tool for the job (of which I concur), but you have not demonstrated how his choice of tool should have been known to be inherently dangerous.
In all likelihood this would have been an electric leaf blower. The reason I say that is that most electric leaf blowers just have an on/off switch. (A gas blower with a jerry-rigged throttle would have probably been reported) It is not uncommon for electric leaf blowers to run for hours at a time. This should not be expected to cause a fire.
My electric leaf blower has no safety trigger. Most that I have seen have no safety. Therefore it would not need to be jerry-rigged in order to perform the desired function. In addition, if you remove the end piece, the velocity of the output is significantly decreased. On mine I can further decrease the output velocity by setting it on the lower speed.
http://www.toro.com/home/yardtools/blowervacs/51599.html
“Electric motors can overheat/malfunction and catch fire just like a combustion engine can malfunction and catch fire.”
Hence the word “malfunction”. An electric fan can “malfunction” too. When it malfunctions, it can also cause a fire. I doubt you would insult the intelligence of Prof. Turley had an electric fan malfunctioned, causing his house to catch fire.
“I’ll make fun of any damn thing I please”. That pretty well explains your initial comment. I hope it helps you to feel somewhat superior. The intent of your comment was obvious. The intent of my comment was to point that out. It looks like we both have succeeded.
I will offer this as I got a new leaf blower recently. They are designed differently than the old models. They are quite silent except for the vibrations of the motor. They electric would not work unless rigged but then again would most likely short out before a fire. The gas model could overheat and start a fire, especially if other motors were running near by.
Firstly, gas or electric makes no difference. The question is irrelevant. Electric motors can overheat/malfunction and catch fire just like a combustion engine can malfunction and catch fire.
Secondly, a leaf blower is not designed to be used as an air circulation device for removing/displacing moisture from evaporation. What he needed was a fan – a lower power device designed for continuous use. Leaf blowers are designed to create a narrow focus, high energy stream of air to move small debris and most are not designed for continuous highest output usage (hence having triggers for idle/thrust). Consequently a leaf blower uses more power than is required for that job in addition to not being designed for the task at hand. More power, be it from gasoline fueled internal combustion engines or electric motors, equates to greater risk of fire in case of malfunction.
Thirdly, I’ll make fun of any damn thing I please. I await your understanding that your approval of what I do is not required.
I’m still struggling with how the fire got started. Just kicking up a strong wind shouldn’t cause that much mayhem.
We have one person that can “see how that could happen”, and another who insinuates that this is something Browning (if he was smarter) should have foreseen.
This posed to those two:
1. Was it a gas or an electric leaf blower?
2. Why would one expect a fire to result from leaving either of them running?
I think it’s easy to make fun of others. I just want to see if either of you can explain why you think you know something that he didn’t.
(I’m not a fan of Kurt Browning. However, I do have a problem with people who belittle others just because they can.)
I await your response.
Once again illustrating that one doesn’t have to be a genius to run fast or jump high.
I can see how that could happen….