And you thought you had a bad day...

[Hellrazor]

A 17-YEAR -old rookie plumber has burned down a £5 million ($12 million) waterside mansion in southwest England, after a soldering task during his first day on the job went horribly wrong.

The historic mansion in Kingswear, Devon, was undergoing a £2 million renovation when a fire ripped through the eight-bedroom house overnight.

In just minutes it burned it down to the ground.

It is thought the fire started after polystyrene insulation caught alight from the flame of a blow torch.
The plumber was working for a firm of sub-contractors.

John Howes, of the Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service, said the plumber was "very upset", according to the Daily Mail newspaper.

"It appears at this stage that this was an unfortunate plumber who was soldering in the roof space of a large building, which was undergoing total renovation".

"We think a blowtorch may have set light to expanded polystyrene foam in the roof space"

More than 60 firefighters were called to the listed building to fight the blaze.

No one was hurt.

One neighbour said: "I heard it was started by a teenager on his first day. You have to feel sorry for the poor lad. He must feel terrible," the Daily Mail said.

Apparently the millionaire owner, Andrew Brownsword, wasn't very happy either. But his spokesman said Mr Brownsword believed there was no malice involved.

[sparkeyjames]

Moral of story is never give a rookie anything that can cut something, poison something or that shoots flames.

[radhak]

Somebody said, "pocket some change, you are a thief; mismanage billions, you are a government"; similarly, if the kid had just botched up his soldering, he would have lost his job; now, he is a 'poor lad' and maybe even a celebrity, with a potential contract for a TV show ala HomeImprovement...

[scorrpio]

Discussed this on another forum.
Some points:
1. Looks like fire code (or whatever they got for codes in UK) violation. Fire should not be able to spread that rapidly. And flammable material should be shielded.

2. The overall work/planning and design appears shoddy. Either a soldered install should not be specced in that location, or it should have been done before insulation install, or after it has been shielded.

3. The kid's boss is an idiot. I highly doubt a 1st-day rookie would grab a torch and go solder some pipes on his own. It was likely handed to him, and he been told specifically what and where to do. He probably had no idea the insulation was flammable.

4. There should have been supervision. On someone's first day working with dangerous equipment, you better have someone overseeing his work to ensure all safety rules are observed. Polysterene has a fairly high ignition point, so a heat shield blanket should have prevented the fire - and there should have been someone there to ensure the blanket was being used.

[Hellrazor]

Discussed this on another forum.

Lost you after that point.. another forum?

[BrazosJake]

Discussed this on another forum.
Some points:
1. Looks like fire code (or whatever they got for codes in UK) violation. Fire should not be able to spread that rapidly. And flammable material should be shielded.

2. The overall work/planning and design appears shoddy. Either a soldered install should not be specced in that location, or it should have been done before insulation install, or after it has been shielded.

3. The kid's boss is an idiot. I highly doubt a 1st-day rookie would grab a torch and go solder some pipes on his own. It was likely handed to him, and he been told specifically what and where to do. He probably had no idea the insulation was flammable.

4. There should have been supervision. On someone's first day working with dangerous equipment, you better have someone overseeing his work to ensure all safety rules are observed. Polysterene has a fairly high ignition point, so a heat shield blanket should have prevented the fire - and there should have been someone there to ensure the blanket was being used.

Yup, an inexperienced 17-year-old should never had been put in that situation.

[scmhogg]

Yup, an inexperienced 17-year-old should never had been put in that situation.

When I was 17 they gave me an M-14.

Steve

[Rob3100]

When I was 17 they gave me an M-14.

Steve

But that is just pure genius. At 17 we male humans are ideally suited for only two things:

1) Mayhem (shooting things up, blowing things up, running things over)
2) Trying to chase girls, which generally leads directly to 1).

And you had the luxury of one of the finest implements ever made for its task.

-rob

[eezlock]

bad day..........

Sounds like there should have been a master plumber on the job doing the soldering....not an apprentice doing that job, especially the first day!
An apprentice should never, never be doing any soldering with a torch
until properly instructed and his ability checked by a master of the trade!

I would bet that someone's bonding certificate, insurance carrier and
the other contractor's insurance company are going to have a field day
with that one, when all is said and done! eezlock

[scorrpio]

When I was 17 they gave me an M-14.

Steve

And then, did they tell you "Just run along and shoot some people over there"?

[scmhogg]

And then, did they tell you "Just run along and shoot some people over there"?

Pretty much.

Steve