Fire Inspection and Paint Cans

I don't know that I've ever seen this topic addressed here before. This morning we had the Fire Department Inspector here and he did a walk of the property. We are two, two-story condo buildings. On the first floor of one building we have a maintenance room where our employee works and where we store all of our equipment.

The fire inspector noticed that we had several cans of paint. The ones in question are acrylic based paints. He says they are combustable and have to be removed. (The paints are expensive and are used for painting everyone's doors, the building windowsills, and wall paint for touch ups.)

We have a barn type shed on the property where we store other items and where we also store the gas cans for our gas powered equipment. He was in there and didn't say the gas cans had to be removed so we asked him if we could store the paint cans in that shed and he said NO. We asked if he had any suggestions what to do with it and he said to "just throw it out...get rid of it."

So what the heck are we supposed to do? We just purchased the door paint because all the doors are scheduled to be repainted soon. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Anna,

How many cans are we talking about? Who does the painting? Usually the painters will provide the paint. He is right because of the acrylic base of the paint, they are considered combustable. Maybe someone has a laundry room or extra floor space in a closet as long as they have not been opened, you can safely store them.

Actually, the shed would be fine because you already have gas cans in there but that would be against his instructions so unless you can hide them in airtight containers, I would find a nice closet.

Acrylic paint is combustable? I just learned something new (though don't get it)!

Anyway, if gasoline is okay, not being allowed storing the paint in the same place seems, to my uneducated eyes, pretty stupid. I'd get a second opinion from the authorities.

Settling down? Ha. No. "She" was at our meeting Wednesday night and this is her new thing: WE (the board) now work for HER! ^That is our job. If SHE suggests we do something a certain way and we don't agree (since she's the board's boss) WE'RE being derelect in our duties. We're here to only serve HER....Can you believe that? That's her new twist.

So acrylic (oil-based) paint is NOT combustable? I'm no painter....so is it true? Guess I'll have to do some research....but I won't argue with the Fire Inspector. Yes, I could tell he takes his position "very seriously"....

Hi Anna – I am very surprised by the inspector’s response to just throw the paint out (besides the fact it was expensive!). Paint is a toxic product (or waste if being thrown out) and fed/state/local laws dictate how paint can be disposed of.

I suggest calling your fire department and asking how paint may be safely stored.

Bonnie

Bonnie, I think that is a very good suggestion. But I think this same Fire Inspector answers the phone, too. He DID make one suggestion.....that was to purchase a big, expensive, fireproof cabinet made especially for storing things like this. But he said we can't keep THAT in the maintenance room, nor our shed. Sigh.

That fire inspector seems to be missing a card or two in his deck. I agree with Bonnie, you store paint by the hundred, or thousands of gallons in a home depot.. is ten gallons in a storage shed suddenly a problem? I can see not wanting it near a furnace room, perhaps.

and where does he suggest you keep your flammable storage cabinet? the whole idea of that cabinet is that you store your flammables INSIDE The cabinet, and the cabinet can sit anywhere (except next to a furnace, etc.). we have them inside our labs everywhere.

And for Bonnie: i figured you were using "toxic" from some city clean up pamphlet, exactly like you said... i wasn't trying to pick on you, just pointing out that folks (including people who should absolutely know better, like state waste officials) toss out terms here and there to make their point, without regard to the fact there are actual, legal definitions for such things. I dislike news stories that speak about toxic mold the same way...

(fyi, according to the Mine Safety Administration (agency that regulates my workplace), a combustible material is ANY material that can burn if heated sufficiently... which makes diamonds, limestone, steel, brick, even water "combustible". they don't even define flammable, since everything in the world is combustible by their definition).

Did he put this in writing (the paint violation?)

It's not good enough to point out a violation - he should have given you an alternative for the necessary storage of these cans of paint.

For the record, the paint should be stored in a cabinet such as this:
http://www.safetyplus.net/Safety-Cabinets/Eagle-30-Gallon-Safety-Cabinet/
The cabinets come in a variety of sizes.

As for someone pointing out the amount of paint at Home Depot, there are several differences. The first beign that most of the paint there is latex not acrylic and that is a huge difference in flammability and volatility.

As for disposal, the paint in liquid form is most likely considered hazardous waste and can not simply be thrown away or washed down the drain legally.