Guns and Bullets in Fires
When I was about 11 years old, I watched a group of older boys throwing a handful of ,22-caliber bullets into a campfire. We all ran for cover, then stared as the bullets exploded and were propelled at ground level. Of course, we were lucky no one was hurt. I sure didn’t ever try it myself, but the memory stayed with me.
Nearly 20 years later, I had another experience with ammunition and fire. Fighting a fire in a large, frame dwelling that had been converted into several apartments, we had gained access to the second floor rear by way of a porch roof. We were in a smoke-filled apartment trying to get ahead of the rapidly moving fire.
Fortunately, we were able to stop and eventually extinguish the fire. But when the smoke began to clear, we found we’d been in a room used for reloading shotgun and rifle shells. There was probably 30 pounds of smokeless powder (modern gunpowder) there— enough to have leveled the top floor and dispatched all of us to the “last alarm.”
Once again 1 had been lucky, and this time l decided to learn more about this often hidden enemy.
A box of factory-loaded ammunition for the popular .357 magnum pistol can cost nearly $20. Reloading, or hand loading, as it’s sometimes called, produces a finished bullet as good as factory-made for less than half that, so it’s becoming popular with shooters. For some, it’s a profitable and legal sideline. The brass part of the shell is the most expensive part of the bullet, but this cartridge can be used over and over. All the other components—the lead projectile, the gunpowder, and the fulminate of mercury primer—can be bought in bulk form, which is relatively inexpensive.
The biggest danger to firefighters is that a person who does reloading may have several pounds of smokeless powder on hand. It’s plenty safe when storage conditions are controlled, but it is explosive, of course.
If you examine the base of any center-fire cartridge (by far the most widely used type of bullet), you’ll notice a circular metal section inset into the base. This is the primer—what detonates the powder inside the cartridge. Primers can be very hazardous if stored improperly, and also under fire conditions. They’re sensitive; under the right circumstances, one primer can set off the rest in sympathetic detonation.
Reloading is normally done in a basement or workshop, but the people doing it aren’t going to display warnings that will tip off the firefighter that there’s an extra danger there. To spot the fire hazard yourself, become familiar with the major components and the reloading press used to put them together. (See photo.) A well-stocked gun case is another possible indication of reloading activity. If the resident is close by and you have time, ask about ammunition in the house. ⅛
Those kids around the campfire could throw bullets in without exceptional danger because bullets fly apart when detonated that way. The brass shell goes one way, the lead slug another, and the energy is dissipated. (When this happens, the shells begin to pop, sounding just like firecrackers.) But if a loaded weapon becomes hot enough to detonate a bullet, the force is directed and focused.
A semi-automatic pistol (usually referred to simply as an “automatic”) will normally allow only one heattriggered firing, because the bullets cycle into the firing chamber only if the shooter maintains a firm hold on the gun’s grip. By contrast, a revolver could theoretically fire as many as five times. However, only one shot would be directed by the barrel; the others would fire more weakly out of the cylinders holding them. (The sixth bullet in a six-shot revolver will be blocked by the gun’s frame.)
A handgun exposed to the heat of a typical structure fire would probably go off. Fortunately, most handguns meant to protect a homeowner or storekeeper are concealed in drawers or nightstands, where the extreme heat needed to ignite the powder is less likely to penetrate the brass of the gun. Once, after a fire that had originated behind the counter of a pawn shop, I found a revolver that the owner had kept for protection. The plastic grips had melted and the gun had been subjected to severe heat for quite a while, yet it hadn’t gone off. This was fortunate, because the weapon was pointed toward the door, where we had gained entrance and where the bulk of our firefighting efforts had been carried out.
Larger guns and their bullets are more dangerous. A .38-caliber rifle bullet, for example, contains more gunpowder than a .38-caliber handgun bullet. And the velocity of a bullet leaving a rifle barrel may be 2,200 feet per second, compared with 800 feet per second for the handgun.
Rifles stored at home are usually found in closets—almost always with the barrel pointing straight up.
Fires in sporting goods stores present a real danger. There may be extraordinary amounts of powder present in a gun shop, so the fire will get hot fast. If the store’s in a noncombustible, metal-truss building, look out for an early roof collapse. Because so many store fires occur when the store is closed and unoccupied, firefighters can often afford to keep their distance from a fire in a gun shop. If they can’t, almost any solid material will serve as a barricade.
Automobile trunks may contain weapons. Because the gas tank is close to the trunk in most cars, the fire might get hot enough for a weapon discharge or bullet detonation.
In a van or truck, a gun might be stored in any number of places. After one van fire, we found a fully loaded, 12-gauge shotgun under one of the seats. The weapon didn’t discharge, but I learned two more indicators of weapons: hunting season and a driver dressed in hunting clothes.
