Idiot blew up gas still in Stockton nsw

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Idiot blew up gas still in Stockton nsw

Postby Wraith71 » Sun Oct 14, 2018 2:21 pm

Hey did anyone else here about the guy that flamed his ass and made the local news in Stockton by blowing up his still ...ppl like him will cause more damage to what is for most a great hobby.

At approximately 09:30am this morning we responded to reports of an explosion in Stockton. Upon arrival fire fighters found a still which had exploded leaving a patient with serious burns. Whilst the patient was being treated by NSW Ambulance and Westpac Rescue Helicopter Service - Official Site fire fighters set up fire protection and cooled the remaining components of the brewing kit. Fire fighters also utilised gas detection equipment to monitor the atmosphere for dangerous gasses whilst fire fighters worked within the shed. NSWPOL also attended the incident.
Last edited by Wraith71 on Sun Oct 14, 2018 2:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Idiot blew up gas still in Stockton nsw

Postby bluc » Sun Oct 14, 2018 2:26 pm

poor bugger :handgestures-thumbdown: dumb bastard didn't follow protocol, and while running gas to boot..
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Re: Idiot blew up gas still in Stockton nsw

Postby bluc » Sun Oct 14, 2018 2:34 pm

Is there a link to the story? no sign on google..
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Re: Idiot blew up gas still in Stockton nsw

Postby Wraith71 » Sun Oct 14, 2018 2:48 pm

Yea Bluc I found it on face book ... Fire and Rescue NSW Station 446 Stockton ... nasty pics too
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Re: Idiot blew up gas still in Stockton nsw

Postby woodduck » Sun Oct 14, 2018 3:31 pm

This is exactly what we don't want. This makes us look like idiots. This is why we push the safety so much around here. We all need to keep our minds on the job and take this hobby seriously. I know I'm preaching to the converted here but it's the number one issue in our hobby and why we are looked poorly upon.

Lets look after each other and if you know someone that's doing this hobby in an unsafe manner help them out by letting them know.
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Re: Idiot blew up gas still in Stockton nsw

Postby dans.brew » Sun Oct 14, 2018 3:58 pm

woodduck wrote:This is exactly what we don't want. This makes us look like idiots. This is why we push the safety so much around here.

:text-+1:
The good old phrase comes to mind 'It wont happen to me'... but the simple fact is, it could if safety isn't taken seriously!
Hopefully the bloke is alright.
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Re: Idiot blew up gas still in Stockton nsw

Postby Wraith71 » Sun Oct 14, 2018 4:09 pm

:text-+1:
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Re: Idiot blew up gas still in Stockton nsw

Postby crow » Mon Oct 15, 2018 12:19 pm

Link to the story would be great, safety is a big deal. We are boiling liquid to get highly flammable gas and condense that to flammable liquid, there really is no circumstances where it's ok to take yours eyes off a running still. When things go wrong it can turn to shit very quickly if not picked up on, I have had a blocked condenser and had to move like greased lightning to avert a situation. It's not the most dangerous hobby you could have but it ain't stamp collecting either. It would be useful to know what went wrong in this particular case as speculation is just that.
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Re: Idiot blew up gas still in Stockton nsw

Postby ed9362 » Mon Oct 15, 2018 1:31 pm

looked to me from the pictures that it wasn't an explosion but he was collecting spirit in a jar sitting on a flimsy plastic chair, the jar fell over for whatever reason and his spirit ignited on the gas burner.

the aftermath appears to be a chair with a melted leg a boiler that is charred and a burned still attendant (presumably he got burned trying to put the fire out himself).

considering there is an unscathed can of mover fuel sitting a meter or two away from the still it cant have been too much of a fire.

just my 2C worth.
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Re: Idiot blew up gas still in Stockton nsw

Postby wynnum1 » Tue Oct 16, 2018 7:17 am

Could have been a gas explosion they happen very regularly what is the copper on the ground.looks a little worse for wear.
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Re: Idiot blew up gas still in Stockton nsw

Postby crow » Tue Oct 23, 2018 12:44 pm

Either way fire department, helicopter, air monitoring unit and the jacks, oh boy this chap is going to have a bill and a half and that's even if they don't press charges. Be careful out their guys, don't left a running still, don't take short cuts don't have unnecessary flamables near flames and do use a regulator. It's not the most dangerous hobby out there but it ain't coin collecting either and these stories are a stark reminder of that.
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Re: Idiot blew up gas still in Stockton nsw

Postby Joycy » Tue Oct 23, 2018 1:00 pm

Looking at that copper it looks like it exploded, copper doesn't split like that when dropped. I originally bought a 3 gas burner but I'll use that for heating mashed and electrical elements for distilling
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Re: Idiot blew up gas still in Stockton nsw

Postby crow » Tue Oct 23, 2018 7:45 pm

I use flame for distilling and can distill chutney if I want. Most of my fruit musts end with a marc run that would not be possible to run with an element. Flame has inherent risks that need to be mitigated as does electricity, neither way are necessarily more dangerous than the other if you follow the right protocols for the method use choose. If you increase your risk by collecting near an open flame or have your collection jar where it can tip, over flow or in any way be ignited you are in the running for the highly prestigious Darwin Award :angry-extinguishflame:
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Re: Idiot blew up gas still in Stockton nsw

Postby scythe » Thu Oct 25, 2018 5:55 pm

I wonder how many people that commented on it being a still will get a knock on the door in 6 months to a year after the cops buid their case.
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Re: Idiot blew up gas still in Stockton nsw

Postby crow » Sun Nov 04, 2018 10:39 am

scythe wrote:I wonder how many people that commented on it being a still will get a knock on the door in 6 months to a year after the cops buid their case.

You mean comments here? My guess is less than none :))
So what are you in for? Reading and comprehending a news report. :laughing-rolling:
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Re: Idiot blew up gas still in Stockton nsw

Postby scythe » Mon Nov 05, 2018 7:37 pm

Nah the face book posters who tag their mates or siblings.

I dislike facebook as a forum, not enough control over how far the information goes.
And its too easy to mass search.
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Re: Idiot blew up gas still in Stockton nsw

Postby dans.brew » Mon Nov 05, 2018 7:55 pm

scythe wrote:Nah the face book posters who tag their mates or siblings.

I dislike facebook as a forum, not enough control over how far the information goes.
And its too easy to mass search.


:text-+1:
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Re: Idiot blew up gas still in Stockton nsw

Postby ed9362 » Sat Nov 10, 2018 8:27 am

Joycy wrote:Looking at that copper it looks like it exploded, copper doesn't split like that when dropped. I originally bought a 3 gas burner but I'll use that for heating mashed and electrical elements for distilling



i wouldn't be surprised if the fire fighters forcibly removed the still from the keg rather than muck around with a tri clamp. i would imagine they would have wanted to put some water in the keg to cool it down.
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