Forrest
06-14-2000, 05:44 PM
I just got back from a quick visit with John and Sue Harmon at Bilt-Rite. He's had my 16 Ski Sporter's drivers seat in his shop for about two months now to rebuild as part of a complete upholstery replacement job. When I arrived, the first thing that John showed me was his wood shop. "The fire started right there" John said as he pointed to an area just below a brand new table-saw and newly built saw-table. Apparently John had just attached some pieces of wood on to a fiberglass seat frame with some stainless-steel wood screws in order to have something to staple into. He noticed the screws were slightly too long and they protruded through the wood. No big deal, he just broke out the angle grinder and began to grind off the screw tips. Later that day he was back to work in the upholstery shop and said that he kept smelling smoke. He took a good look around and figured that his neighbor was burning something in his yard again and went back to work. A little time went by, and the smoke smell got a little stronger. Then he remembered. There is an outdoor fire ban in effect in North Florida due to the unseasonably dry conditions. With that, he went searching for the origin of the smoke.
The Bilt-Rite wood shop is a 20 by 25-foot one story building about 30-feet to the left of the main upholstery building. When he got to the front of the wood shop, he immediately saw where the smoke was coming from. Smoke was coming from every crack in the building! Unknowingly, John carefully opened the door only to find that the sawdust on the floor had just that second burst into flames. John pulled out he garden hose and at just about the same time, his neighbor saw what was happening and immediately called 911. The fire department was there within a few minutes and dowsed the whole building inside and out with lots of water.
What had happened was that the small hot stainless-steel tips that he ground off earlier had gone down into the piles of sawdust on the floor and smoldered. Since all of the doors and windows were closed at the time, there was not enough oxygen to support a full-blown fire, but the temperature was so hot in the building, any thing plastic like double-insulated power tools just melted. The fire inspector said that if he had opened that door about two minutes later, the building may have exploded and at minimum, would have surely burst into flames.
Anyway, if you have work at Bilt-Rite and wonder why it has been taking so long, know that John had been rebuilding the wood shop and he also had to build again a number of stand-up bolster seat frames the were fire damaged for his ongoing Superboat contract. As of last Friday, John said that he was getting everything back to normal and not to worry - the upholstery jobs in the shop will be completed soon. Lucky for him and all of us Bilt-Rite fans, there was no damage to the upholstery shop, but most of all no one got hurt.
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Forrest
[This message has been edited by Forrest (edited 06-14-2000).]
The Bilt-Rite wood shop is a 20 by 25-foot one story building about 30-feet to the left of the main upholstery building. When he got to the front of the wood shop, he immediately saw where the smoke was coming from. Smoke was coming from every crack in the building! Unknowingly, John carefully opened the door only to find that the sawdust on the floor had just that second burst into flames. John pulled out he garden hose and at just about the same time, his neighbor saw what was happening and immediately called 911. The fire department was there within a few minutes and dowsed the whole building inside and out with lots of water.
What had happened was that the small hot stainless-steel tips that he ground off earlier had gone down into the piles of sawdust on the floor and smoldered. Since all of the doors and windows were closed at the time, there was not enough oxygen to support a full-blown fire, but the temperature was so hot in the building, any thing plastic like double-insulated power tools just melted. The fire inspector said that if he had opened that door about two minutes later, the building may have exploded and at minimum, would have surely burst into flames.
Anyway, if you have work at Bilt-Rite and wonder why it has been taking so long, know that John had been rebuilding the wood shop and he also had to build again a number of stand-up bolster seat frames the were fire damaged for his ongoing Superboat contract. As of last Friday, John said that he was getting everything back to normal and not to worry - the upholstery jobs in the shop will be completed soon. Lucky for him and all of us Bilt-Rite fans, there was no damage to the upholstery shop, but most of all no one got hurt.
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Forrest
[This message has been edited by Forrest (edited 06-14-2000).]