FIRE !!!

["Bob La Londe" <nospam@xxxxxxxxx>]

Trust your senses.  I pulled up to a job site, and smelled hot plastic a
little while ago.  I walked around, and could not find anything, so I went
to work.  A little while later I headed out to my truck to get something...
I don't even remember what.  When I opened up the side box on my work cap I
was greeted by flames.  Fun.  My big tool bag had fallen over dumping a file
across the terminals of a spent battery I had not tossed in the spent pile
back at the shop yet.  Plastic terminal caps were in place on the battery.
I set on fire a large plastic case full of security tips, the handle of my
drywall saw, and a stud finder.  One of the fancy video ones.  I flicked the
file off the battery, blew out the flames, and decided I needed to go back
to the shop and wash out my side box.  Ouch.  What a mess.  Tools lost
probably fifty or sixty bucks, but the entire work cap smells like plastic
smoke, and I have to wash out what looks like acid from the box.

Be careful.  Even a spent battery can be dangerous.  I guess I'm lucky.  In
(more than) fifteen years doing this I have never had something like this
happen, but I have always been careful because I knew it could happen.

Bob La Londe
I should gone fishing today.