Welders spark Colorado fire

The Greeley Tribune reports that fire officials believe a fire that torched a Johnstown, Colorado mill began after welders finished working on machinery adjacent to grain bins. Capt. Mike Davis of Windsor-Severance Fire Protection District said privately contracted welders finished welding a new auger about 5:30 p.m. Sunday at Johnstown Feed and Seed, 239 East South 1st St.

Davis said a hot piece of slag or a spark from the welders could have smoldered unnoticed for hours among the grain before late-night winds fanned the fire into the blaze that eventually blew the roof off a silo and burned into Tuesday.

The moral of this story: be damn careful when you weld. You throw off sparks, and in a place like a grain bin or silo, sparks can be extremely dangerous.