Attempt to make diesel goes up in flames

MUSKOKA LAKES — A do-it-yourself attempt to make fuel from vegetable oil had fiery results for one Bent River property owner on Sunday.
Firefighters from the Milford Bay, Port Carling and the Windermere/Raymond stations were dispatched to an address on Highway 141 between Rosseau Lake Roads 1 and 2 in the late afternoon hours of March 11. When they arrived, they found a garage and trailer fully engulfed with flames. Muskoka Lakes assistant fire chief Jim Schneider said the property owner was trying to turn vegetable oil into biodiesel for a diesel engine.
“The owner was heating up some vegetable oil with a propane burner and he had left it unattended, and it had caught fire,” he said. “What he was doing was he was warming it up, and then his next step was to run it through a bunch of filters to refine it a bit.”
Schneider said the property owner had left the burner alight when he walked off to visit a neighbour.
“When he came back, his whole garage was on fire,” he said.
Schneider said fire first engulfed the garage, which measured about 24 feet by 36 feet, before spreading to a nearby trailer.
Firefighters battled the blaze for several hours. Police had to shut down Highway 141 in both directions as hoses were laid across the roadway to draw water from a nearby river. Crews from the Ministry of Transportation were also brought in to help control traffic, forcing many drivers to make detours.
One firefighter suffered minor injuries due to heat exhaustion while battling the blaze, but did not need to be transported to hospital.
Schneider said the practice of creating biodiesel from scratch isn’t common in Muskoka. However, he said the incident is a reminder that residents should take precautions when using propane.
Propane appliances, like burners or barbecues, he said, should never be used indoors, even if a door is left open.
“A propane barbecue or burner is different from the cooking stove you have in your kitchen,” he said. “Your stove in your kitchen, whether it’s natural gas or propane, is designed to burn with a neutral flame and to not give off any gas. Your propane barbecue is not built to the same kind of standard. It gives off gases and carbon monoxide, which is extremely dangerous.”
Though Schneider said the property owner wasn’t charged for storing propane cylinders inside the garage, he said residents are required to leave them outdoors. Only small, handheld containers, he said, are allowed to be stored indoors.

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