Most of us can probably still remember our first day in the trades and maybe some of the stupid things we did, but I bet nothing was worse than what this poor 17-year old did on his first day as a plumbers assistant. I don’t blame the kid but the guy who handed him the torch is a moron. If it were my company, I would fire that guy and keep the kid.
Rookie plumber’s $12m blunder
April 18, 2007 10:41am
A 17-YEAR -old rookie plumber has burned down a £5 million ($12 million) waterside mansion in southwest England, after a soldering task during his first day on the job went horribly wrong.
The historic mansion in Kingswear, Devon, was undergoing a £2 million renovation when a fire ripped through the eight-bedroom house overnight.
In just minutes it burned it down to the ground. It is thought the fire started after polystyrene insulation caught alight from the flame of a blow torch. The plumber was working for a firm of sub-contractors.
John Howes, of the Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service, said the plumber was “very upset”, according to the Daily Mail newspaper. “It appears at this stage that this was an unfortunate plumber who was soldering in the roof space of a large building, which was undergoing total renovation”. “We think a blowtorch may have set light to expanded polystyrene foam in the roof space” More than 60 firefighters were called to the listed building to fight the blaze. No one was hurt.
One neighbour said: “I heard it was started by a teenager on his first day. You have to feel sorry for the poor lad. He must feel terrible,” the Daily Mail said. Apparently the millionaire owner, Andrew Brownsword, wasn’t very happy either. But his spokesman said Mr Brownsword believed there was no malice involved.
Here’s the link: http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,21577635-13762,00.html
Replies
>>> said the plumber was "very upset"
great understatement.
great understatement.
They are British, after all.
I had re-wired the laundry room of an apartment complex one mid-December. Lo and behold, I get called on Christmas eve, with the news that there had been a fire .... After I recovered from my shock, I asked the boss .... was it anything to do with OUR work? I should have known he was setting me up! The real cause was a deliberately set fire in the neighboring storage room; a vagrant had been found camping in there, and had tossed an incendiary device into the materials as he had been chased out.
One of the featured houses in FHB burned down. IIRC it was between the time that they published the pictures and the mag was printed.Happend about 2-4 years ago..
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A-holes. Hey every group has to have one. And I have been elected to be the one. I should make that my tagline.
oops.
jt8
"We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop."
-- Mother Teresa
"oops."
Or, as Steve Martin used to say, "Well, excuuuuuuuuuuuuuse me!
Mike HennessyPittsburgh, PA
About 10+ years ago I rented a shop with another guy. His dad owned a small sheet metal company that did a lot of flashings for roofers. One of the dad's employees was soldering a roof flashing on the local museum, (a huge old mansion) and lit the place on fire.
Did an estimated $3 million in damage. Dad's business carried liability for $1 million. Insurance company wrote the million dollar check, then the city came after the business. As a corporation, there was less than $20K in assets, so the city didn't pursue it further.
Bowz