Date: August 31, 2018
Location: Wappingers Falls, New York (USA)
Address:
Type: Dust Fire
Fuel: Sawdust
Industry: N/A (Private Home)
Equipment: Commercial Sander
Company: N/A
Database Incidents: None Recorded
Loss: One Person Dead
Capital Cost: Unknown
Status: Open
Confirmation: Unconfirmed
Company Description: N/A
Incident Description:
On March 19, 2019, the Poughkeepsie Journal reported that a house fire that took the life of a seven-year-old boy in Wappingers Falls, New York, was caused by spontaneous heating and combustion of sawdust in the dust collection bag of a floor sander.
The boy’s mother and her fiancé had rented a floor sander and used it, along with a polyurethane solution, to finish their dining room floor. After they went to bed at 10:30 p.m., the fiancé heard a “cracking sound” and smelled smoke. The parents ran upstairs to get the five children out but didn’t realize that the boy was unaccounted for until they made it outside.
By that point, the smoke and flames were so intense that rescue was impossible. The Dutchess County Chief Medical Examiner later found that the boy died of smoke inhalation.
An investigation revealed that the unplugged sander, which was left in the living room, still had a collection bag full of sawdust when the fire broke out. Although the warning label instructed users to dispose of the dust in a non-combustible metal container and clean the bag before it reached capacity, neither had apparently been done.
A GoFundMe account has been set up to assist the family.
Sources:
Poughkeepsie Journal
