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Over 5,000 rounds of ammunition explode during fire in Atascadero

May 15, 2021

More than 5,000 rounds of ammunition exploded and one person was injured during a residential fire on Valle Avenue in Atascadero on Friday.

Shortly before 5 p.m., firefighters responded to a residence with heavy fire in over half of the structure, one resident with burn injuries and a ½ acre of vegetation burning towards adjacent structures. Because of a narrow driveway, only one engine was able to get close to the structure. All other resources parked at the bottom of a hill and hiked their gear to the fire.

The fire then spread to a storage area holding over 5,000 rounds of personal ammunition, which exploded during the blaze. After approximately 15 minutes into the fire fight, the building was deemed unsafe to occupy and all fire crews had to retreat to the outside.

It took firefighters 30 minutes to extinguish the fire. Fire crews administered medical treatment to the resident for burns to his arms, face and back.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation, but arson is suspected.


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Ten bricks of .22s


9

Family trap / skeet days we blow close to a thousand rounds. 5k rounds in stock was nothing until recently as cost and laws make it difficult to accumulate. I assume 5k rounds seems high for individuals who dont shoot?


26

Did they waste their time counting the empty casings after the fire.What caliber were they, very important could be from a the evil assault rifle and further investigation maybe necessary to insure they were in Calif. can’t have laws.


-23

Thankful no firefighter’s were injured. Thanks to the full response from the county fire and nearby agencies to assist AFD. It could of been much worse if it was a hot day in the area of town it started.


22

I hope everyone understands that, all tho a headline like “5000 rounds” sounds dramatic, un-chambered (in a gun) ammo exploding in a fire is considered by fire departments to be no more riskier than other items/materials in a structure fire.


If you doubt that, here is a safety training video produced by a fire safety organization.


35

Comes a point, where healthy paranoia devolves into 5,000 rounds of madness and absurd “safety training video” rationalizations are just that.


-41

Sorry, but there is nothing healthy about any paranoia.


0

??? You ever been shooting? 5000 rounds isn’t much. People go through that pretty quickly. Serious shooters will use 1000 rounds in a weekend, easy.


13

Yes, have. If you own a gun you should practice using it. If the owner was a serious shooter this makes sense. If not, why have that much ammo?

So much for your fire insurance and liability coverage or umbrella policy.


0

Please, did you read the article? Clearly spells out that they had to retreat once the ammo started going off. But I guess 5000 pales in comparison to your stockpile. Good to know about you…


-32

They also vacate a house that has gas cans, paint thinner, compromised structural timbers. The “ammo going off” is the same as a muffled firecracker. Stick to the facts.


33

When I was a teen I would go buy 5 boxes of 500 22 rounds at walmart for me and my buddies to use on a weekend. You can fit 2-3 of those boxes on a dinner plate. Don’t make uninformed assumptions. People that shoot buy lots of ammo so that they can shoot. Also, look into Newton’s 2nd law. Ammo “exploding” isn’t the same as in a gun.


25

People like this have made ammo too friggin expensive and nowhere to be found… stop hoarding. No civil wars happening, you’ll most likely just inflate prices and eventually blow up your stash lol. glad nobody got killed


-49

A “civil war”, as you say, may or may not be coming. But more restrictions, even prohibitions, are coming. Not even debatable if you still live in California. So I find it difficult to find fault with the concept of securing a properly stored supply of anything that you want and will be denied access to in the future.


It won’t be hoarding that drives the price up, it will be political regulation that is meant to prevent ownership.


I have a list of things that I wish I had bought or bought more of when I had the chance. Remember $35 de-regulated gold? Or more recently, $2-300 bitcoin?


37

Or a home in Avila for $80T … woulda shoulda coulda.

The question is: Are you safer with 5000 rounds of ammo in your home or more at risk of fire, explosion, robbery, liability, voiding your insurance coverage?


-35

The answer is, yes, I am safer with 5,000 rounds of ammo in my home, not to mention several 34″ Louisville Sluggers from a previous career.


18

And how are you certain that the ammo was purchased and not reloaded?


31

5K rounds is NOTHING…


17

Please don’t have give the impression that loose rounds cooked-off by fire is the same as being fired from a firearm. They’re not. Very different. The “explosion” is minimal.


I do wonder however why the homeowner only had 5K rounds in stock?


38

Guess he’s not a true patriot.


-9