Wiltshire fire service warns of blaze danger from linseed oil (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

Wiltshire fire service warns of blaze danger from linseed oil

11:28am Saturday 5th May 2012 in News By Staff reporter

Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service is warning people to take care when using linseed oil, following a recent fire in Salisbury. Investigations have concluded that a kitchen fire in St Ann Street in early April was caused by the spontaneous combustion of rags soaked with linseed oil. Incident reduction manager Martyn Jones said: “This sort of fire is not uncommon. Linseed oil evaporates very rapidly – this causes an exothermic reaction, which accelerates as the temperature of the rags increases. When the accumulated heat exceeds the rate of heat dissipation, the temperature increases and can eventually become hot enough to cause the rags to spontaneously combust.” If you have oily cloths, you should not bring them inside. If you want to keep them, you should store in an air-tight (preferably metal) container. If you intend disposing of them, either hang the rags out to dry on a washing line or soak in water and seal in a plastic bag before throwing away. Mr Jones added: “The risk isn’t just with linseed, other oils such as teak oil - which is used for garden furniture – can also react in this way. We would recommend always reading the container before use, and following the instructions closely.”