Explosion fridge/freezer

[Wils]

Fellow FIs.
Just returned from a domestic house where an explosion had destroyed an internal cupboard next to front door front door and several internal doors; no fire. The internal cupboard contained a Kyoto fridge/freezer. There is a gas meter cupboard on outside wall directly outside this cupboard. The gas supply has been isolated, when i turned it back on for about 15-mins, gas could not be detected by nose. Gas company are coming out to test for leaks.
I think it may well be the mains gas ignited by the fridge/freezer starting-up. My question is, does anyone out there have knowledge of explosions caused by refrigerant gas escapes from fridge/freezers?

[kurnal]

I have a feeling that  they use lpg as a rerigerant these days?


http://www.ikea.com/ms/en_GB/pdf/kitchen_instructions/frostig_bcf_159_95_iu.pdf

[Wils]

Thanks Kurnal. The refrigerant is R600a which is iso-butane, so yes, definitely a possible fuel source. However, i did a little cod experiment outside and pierced one of the pipes near the compressor of the fridge. It was still under pressure. I'm assuming that the system woiuldn't be high pressure and also assuming that, had the refrigerant leaked, the system would be empty. Does anyone know anything about the likely pressure of the cooling system in fridge/freezers when they've been switched of for a bit?

[SamFIRT]

Hi Wils. The system would not necessarily be empty and R600a is Iso-butane. As an isomer of butane it has properties similar to propane and could be responsible for your explosion. There was an article on this in international fire professional in 2010. There was a big loss of life on New Zealand a couple of years ago and a house destroyed by explosion in Dover. Message me for more.

[Wils]

Thanks very much Sam. I'll look further into that possiblity. I'm awaiting the result of the mains gas test.

[jokar]

LFB have just had a fire in a SH complex where the freezer was de iced and turned back on and the gas ignited.
http://www.london-fire.gov.uk/LatestIncidentsContainer_261015_tentreatedsmokeinhalation.asp

[kurnal]

Interesting. London doesn't change does it - 6 appliances to a flat on fire!

[Owain]

Luxury flats destroyed by fire after pensioner used heat gun to defrost freezer

http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/14517528.Luxury_flats_destroyed_by_fire_after_pensioner_used_heat_gun_to_defrost_freezer/

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/local-news/residents-rehoused-after-intense-blaze-7894456

A huge fire which destroyed six luxury apartments was started after a pensioner used a red hot paint stripper to defrost a freezer, sources claim.  The 85-year-old is believed to have been blasted across a kitchen when the electrical appliance exploded at a property in affluent Thorntonhall on the edge of Glasgow.

A source close to the investigation, who asked not to be named, said: ?He was using a paint stripping device, which we would refer to as a heat gun, to defrost the freezer.  There are components in fridge freezers which can explode. They are quite dangerous, particularly if certain devices are used to defrost them. He?s very, very fortunate to have escaped without serious injury. It was a major fire.?

 It understood it could be weeks before the insurance company makes a decision on the building but an insider at South Lanarkshire Council revealed it could be flattened. They may have to demolish it,? said the source, who asked not to be named. ?It?s completely unsafe. So it?s uninhabitable."