EDMONDS, Wash. -- Trying to live green and beat high gasoline prices, some enterprising Americans are turning cooking oil into biodiesel in their garages. The problem is that some of these do-it-yourselfers are burning down the house.
Fire officials around the country are warning of the dangers and considering new restrictions to make sure that people don't torch the whole neighborhood.
Ferocious fires and explosions blamed on backyard refining operations have been reported in Washington state, Arizona, Colorado, Massachusetts and Oregon. No deaths or serious injuries have resulted, but some fire officials say that it is only a matter of time.
In recent years, many Americans have discovered that diesel cars can run on fuel made primarily from vegetable oil, and about the only drawback is a french-fry smell. Some motorists are going so far as to brew their own fuel from used frying oil obtained from restaurants, which are often glad to get rid of the gunk for little or no charge.
Biodiesel is typically made by combining the cooking oil with methanol, or wood alcohol, in a mixture heated to about 120 degrees. But methanol is highly flammable. And frying oil, as any cook knows, can catch fire if it gets too hot or comes into contact with a flame.
The results can be spectacular, particularly in cases in which home refiners have stockpiled tanks and barrels of material.
When a barn caught fire in 2006 outside Canby, Ore., "it was a huge column of black smoke unlike anything I'd ever seen in a typical fire," said the city's fire marshal, Troy Buzalsky. "It was so hot that it burned aluminum and sagged metal."
The fire was caused by an electrical short, and the flames eventually ignited a 275-gallon plastic container of fuel.
"I took a lot of safety measures. It was pretty mind-blowing when I did have a fire," said Jeff Brandt, the barn's owner.
In Phoenix, officials may restrict residential production of biodiesel to properties of an acre or more, Fire Chief Bob Kahn said.
"We're trying not to discourage people from doing it," Kahn said. But "when you're rendering in it in a garage in a family or neighborhood setting, you're exposing an awful lot of people to this potential hazard."
Setting up a home biodiesel operation is relatively easy. With hundreds of how-to guides posted online and kits for sale, enthusiasts can get started for less than $500.
"It's a fun little hobby -- like making your own beer," said Lyle Rudensey, who brews about 50 gallons a month in his Seattle garage to heat his home and run his car. But in the classes that he has taught for three years, Rudensey urges people to take such precautions as storing chemicals in metal cabinets and keeping fire extinguishers on hand.
In the Phoenix suburb of Surprise, Ariz., fumes from chemicals used to make biodiesel caused an explosion and fire at a home in August.
In Monroe, Wash., not far from Seattle, chemical vapors caused an explosion last May in an attached garage where a homeowner was brewing biodiesel. Firefighters put it out before it caused serious damage. In December, a biodiesel fire broke out in a shed in Edmonds, a Seattle suburb, and quickly destroyed the owner's house.
In Northborough, Mass., a biodiesel fire in 2007 destroyed a house and caused about $350,000 in damage, Fire Chief David Durgin said. The homeowner had served in Iraq and wanted to stop relying on foreign oil.
"They got out with the clothes on their backs," Durgin said. But he added: "Somebody ultimately will have a fire, burn their homes, be injured or killed by this."
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