Rags soaked with oil and wood stain spontaneously combusted in a garage in Montclain, N.J., on March 22, destroying all its contents and some contractor equipment, according to The Montclair Times.
The fire occurred at 12:40 a.m.; the previous day, a work crew had been varnishing hardwood floors inside the attached home. When they were finished, workers left the oil- and stain-soaked rags in the garage. A Montclair deputy fire chief said the rags spontaneously caught fire, the Times reported. The fire chief also said that after use the rags should have been sealed in a metal garbage can, in which there would have been little air to feed a fire.
A heat detector in the garage alerted the homeowner of the fire. All Montclair's firefighters responded to the blaze, and they were assisted by fire departments from nearby towns Clifton and Cedar Grove.
