Posted on 12/03/2017 8:13:30 AM PST by BenLurkin
John Gomes, 51, the resident who is accused of starting the blaze near his home, was apparently inspired by “Forged in Fire,” a television series on History (formerly known as The History Channel) in which bladesmiths compete to create swords and other edged weapons.
“He was trying to bend metal and make a hammer or something,” Mr. Morse told reporters on Thursday. But the winds were not in Mr. Gomes’s favor.
Gusts in Cohoes reached up to 30 miles per hour and sparks quickly made their way to apartment buildings near the barrel fire. Mr. Gomes’s apartment was among those destroyed.
...
Tom Ross, the assistant police chief in Cohoes, told reporters on Thursday that the arson charge was for “unintentional” or “reckless” arson. He said Mr. Gomes had been interviewed by detectives and made “statements that implicated himself.”
The cost to repair the damage is still being assessed, Mr. Morse said, estimating that it could be a few million dollars.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
“He’s a father of two,” Christopher Ritchey, an Albany County public defender who is representing Mr. Gomes, said in an interview on Saturday. “He’s a hard-working plumber. And this is just a terrible, unfortunate accident, but it’s not a crime.”
A plumber? Not sure I’d want him soldering any copper pipe in my basement with a propane torch.
I will have to agree with you. This guy may not be ready to play with fire.
Any plumber I have ever met was an intelligent and practical person.
Any reasonably intelligent person above the age of 16 usually knows that an open fire in high winds is not a good idea.
It should also be obvious that you are not going to get a fire hot enough for forging in a steel drum. The drum will melt first.
“He’s a father of two,” Christopher Ritchey, an Albany County public defender who is representing Mr. Gomes, said in an interview on Saturday. “He’s a hard-working plumber. And this is just a terrible, unfortunate accident, but it’s not a crime.”
He’s a moron. Any experienced plumber knows his or her way around fire, torches, melting points, fluxing, behavior of molten metal, etc. Don’t let this guy near your house with a torch.
The guy seems like quite the nitwit. A couple million dollars damage. The einstein apparently burned many others’ property. Idiot.
My grandson and I are dabbling in forging steel, using a wood fire in an old gas BBQ grill ... with enhanced airflow we can get bright orange heat without melting the grill body.
I was working on a new home construction once when the plumber lit it on fire sweating pipe
Did you line the bottom with fire brick, sand or other insulation?
Nope.
amazing
How long have you been doing this?
Sheet metal or aluminum grill shell?
do you have a grate that you put the wood on to burn?
Does your forced air come in the bottom under the wood or from the side?
If you intend to continue I would recommend some brick or sand to line grill.
It would protect the shell and raise the efficiency of your operation. You would get your metal hotter faster.
Since I have done blacksmith work in the past I thought “Forged in Fire,” would be a great show. I quit watching soon after. Too much dramatic music, too many interviews. Not enough of “How we did it!”
That said, I wish they could find enough people to do another series of 'Full Metal Jousting'. That was fun, though the guy who won constantly saying 'my daughter, my daughter...' got a little old.
It’s a sheet-metal grill with a grate at the bottom.
The forced air comes from a hair-dryer from the top.
Started a couple of months ago; the current setup is a proof-of-concept to demonstrate that we can get steel hot enough to deform with a wood fire.
Planning to move to a setup with forced-air coming in from the bottom and firebrick and such eventually.
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