Oily rags possible cause of Wadsworth Place fire

Oily rags might have started a fire in a basement at a home on Wadsworth Place on Monday afternoon, Oak Ridge Fire Chief Darryl Kerley said.

He said residents who were home when the fire started at about 3:40 p.m. Monday smelled and saw smoke, and they initially thought it might have been from an electrical box in the basement.

But he said the fire, one of three in Oak Ridge on Monday, might have been started instead by cleaning rags that were improperly stored downstairs and spontaneously combusted.

The residents at 220 Wadsworth Place were able to evacuate, and there were no injuries, Kerley said.

The Appalachian Chapter of the American Red Cross responded and provided aid.

Kerley said the fire department has seen two similar fires in Oak Ridge in the past year.

He recommended that used rags soaked with oils such as linseed oil or other furniture products be laid out—overnight on concrete, for example—so gases can evaporate.

Kerley said he doesn’t recommend wadding up those rags and putting them in the garbage. Although conditions have to be just right, the rags can generate their own heat and start burning as they oxidize, Kerley said.

He said businesses have special, sealed metal containers that they use for oily rags to prevent spontaneous combustion and contain any fires that do start.

Also Monday, Oak Ridge firefighters responded to a house fire on Lawton Road and a truck tire fire on South Illinois Avenue.