In unrelated incidences, rags soaked in polyurethane wood finish caused two residential fires near northern Virginia's Front Royal recently, according to The Northern Virginia Daily.
The first one occurred May 12 at a vacation home. Through generating heat during the drying process, rags coated in polyurethane finish started a fire on the floor of an outbuilding. The Daily did not report whether a homeowner or contractor was responsible for the fire, which caused $10,000 in damage.
A second fire, during which two firefighters were injured, occurred May 16 and destroyed a home and its contents at a loss estimated at more than $220,000. The polyurethane-soaked rags-used by the homeowner to finish his wood floor-in this instance were also mixed with residual sawdust.
"You have basically a wick waiting for enough heat to generate a fire," Fire Marshal Gerry R. Maiatico told the Daily.
Despite recent events, chemically induced fires like these two are not common in Maiatico's region. "It's nowhere near a leading cause in our fire statistics," he told the newspaper.
