I recently moved to Marietta Ga from Kansas. I bought my plane and equipment while in kansas and moved all the stuff here. I Live in an apartment with my fiance'. While I was away, the maintenence man came up to fix the refrigerator and saw my fuel in the big bright red jug with the "Flammable" and skull&cross on it and informed the leasing office. I received a nasty notice to immediately remove it. I'm a graduate student and have little money. I scraped together what little extra I had to get what I have. I'll be dang if I'm going to get rid of it. They allow drunken neighbors to grill on their balconies with the flames 5' in the air but somehow my fuel is more of a hazard. I'm not sure where to keep it. Summer here rules out storage in a vehicle. I suppose I could use a clorox bottle and rig up a pump and look really silly at the club. I'll figure something out. Just though I'd share that.

I can certainly understand your dilema, you can't expect to buy a gallon of fuel each outing to the field, only to give away what you haven't used, but I wouldn't call your landlord ignorant. You are breaking fire laws by storing flammable materials in a residential building, and I'm sure there are extreme liability issues that they have to contend with.

A bleach bottle may be a way to hide the fuel, just be sure to excercise extreme caution while keeping that stuff indoors!
Dennis-

allen .... do you have a outside storage area? most appartments do.. i keep fuel and stuff in my garage connected to our appartment...

Well the policy regarding flammables should extend to charcoal lighter fluid as well, but it obviously doesn't.

How about putting your fuel in a different container (unmarked).

I would just remove your labels, wash the jugs throughly and put the fuel in the fridge.

Also, next time dont buy the brands with the skull and crossbones, its too intimidating for someone who knows nothing. Brands such as byron fuels dont have any skull and crossbones and probably dont appear as intimidating/dangerous.

Yes that's what really did it I think. It's in my vehicle now. It's now cool enough to not be a problem.

Yeah, the wife'll love storing model fuel in the fridge

Please don't do that if you've got kids. In fact, I wouldn't do this at all!

You said you lived with your fiance'. If she's anything like my wife she has 48+ pairs of shoes (last time we counted anyway). Just put your fuel jug in the closet behind some of the shoe boxes. You'll be fine. lol,

good luck,

Or try explaining to the landlord that it is less than one gallon of model fuel that you couldn't light with a blow torch and see if they will get off your case. Making fuel catch on fire is not an easy task. It isn't a problem while stored.

I wonder what the fire code says about all this
Luis

Retired some time ago after 30 years as a professional firefighter. The landlord isn't ignorant he is probably just obeying the local fire code. If an FD inspector found the stuff you'd be up to your eyeballs in grief. Don't just try to disguise the fuel container as something else. Find a place to store it even if you have to walk a block to get it. When someone tells you that it takes a blowtorch to light the stuff you'd best ignore that too. Nitro goes up with even a small spark or heat from a glow plug. Even FAI fuel will light easily, it is alcohol after all. Don't tell me I don't know fuel, I've been flying since the gasoline and oil days. If alcohol didn't ignite easily you would never see flambeau dishes in at a high end eatery.

What if I just hide it in the oven? hehe

Where are you going to school at up that way? I lived up there for a semester and went to Southern Poly State University. Sorry to hear about your situation, but your landlord I guess is just obeying orders and rules. I agree with ballgunner (who I use to see all the time on the old RCO), glow fuel will go up in a hurry. When I was younger and not so bright I took a cup full of glow fuel and threw it on a fire and MAN!!! It created a gas pocket of some sorts and made for a LOUD explosion and a very tall burst of fire. I burnt my eyebrows pretty good but didnt have any bad burns on my body (that was the last time I messed around with glow fuel in a manner that it was not designed for).

You should come down to the Fall fly in down in Andersonville GA in two weeks. Its only about a 2 1/2 hr. ride for you. There is usually a good turnout.

I dont mean to get off on a rant here:
but, this country seems to be getting more like other countries, cant do this cant do that.
Some things I can understand you should not have around the house or in the house.
but if were gonna talk about a gallon of model fuel not being suitable for storage in a safe corner of a place of dwelling.
Then, lets talk about the 4 cans of combustable hair spray, the 2 cans of highly combustable WD-40, the bottles of Jack Daniels and whatever other "alc" that might be in the liquer cabinet, lets not forget the at least 275 gallons of oil that heats your place of dwelling thats in most basements, it'll heat your house more ways than one, and I'm sure we all can go on and on about this.

The landloard maybe right, but I think its real rediculous, what this is all comming to.

HeH, put the stuff in a ice tea container, invite the landlord over for a nice cool beverage and call in the day.

O.K. sorry about that had to vent, I just think ppl should have more important things to worry about then ratting on someone for having fuel for their hobby.

P.S. whens the last time you heard someones house or apt. going up in smoke for model fuel????

Thanks and good luck.

I agree.

But you know you are gonna get flamed for that by somebody.

Beer is only a small portion alcohol.

And fuel oil has a MUCH higher flash point!

Hair spray is in a sealed container, as is WD-40.

Jack Daniels and other "alcs" have relatively low alcohol content, and certainly don't contain "nitro".

Storing a container of our fuel in the house is closer to storing a gallon of gasoline in the house.

I agree with disliking the constantly increasing regulation of our lives, but storage of flammables in the home isn't one of the regs I happen to disagree with.
Dennis-

as I most certainly agree with any opposing and I encourage opposing feedback of anyones veiws or opinions.
the basic statement was that if it is flamable, its gonna burn or explode.

take a match to JD,
take flame to home heating oil,
expose some heat to wd 40,
and ect to the other flamable stuff, let me know if it sits idle like water.
prolly not.

but I do know that the model fuel in question is highly flamable, it will not flame up just bye looking at it.
So intern I agree with some of the statements, we all have our own opinions.

Are there any LOW COST solutions for storing flamables like our fuel. I recently had a serious situation in my shop that could have gotten real bad if it had gone any further. One of the major things the fire chief brought to my attention was my fuel, thinners, glues, and rocket engines in a relatively close area. I do not have a garage or other outside storage facility to keep this stuff in.

Any ideas?

Yep JD burns pretty fast. Golden Grain burns faster. These are things that are likely to be found close to your kitchen where you cook (most of the time cooking requires some kind of fire be it gas or electricity. I dont see the problem with a Jug of glow fuel in a plastic container sitting in a closet. If the house catches on fire I dont think that the Jug of glow fuel will make a difference.

Ok, so you have a point. So does ballgunner. But heres an experiment for you to try.

Take some of your legal to keep in the appartment lighter fluid for the grill, throw a lit match into a tiny bit of it in the bottom of a coffee can. It will burn.

Spray some of your hairspray over a candle, its a blow torch.

Put a tiny bit of fuel in the bottom of a coffee can and try to light it with what ever you have. Don't keep your face right over the can.

Bet you can't light it.

It has to be compressed to burn well.

Don't try it in the house if you do try it. Better yet, don't try it. Anything will burn if you heat it with enough fire, but cans of model fuel don't just explode. In 28 years of flying, I have only heard of one plane catching fire in a crash and never seen one personally.

With all that said, none of it really makes a diff because the landlord is right, and fire codes are there for a reason. You need to find a place to store it. Thats the breaks of renting an apartment.

FlyBoy

Have you tried to light the stuff before in a can? My theory is that it will burn. I think I will go out and try it. I know if you pour it on an open flame you get a big flame.