[tpool]

- "Sadly, the fire-proof safe wasn't lightning-strike safe and is now obliterated."

But... the lightning strike caused a fire. That shouldn't mean the fire is "extra hot" or something like that.

I'm disturbed, as I keep these kinds of thing in my fire safe for just such a reason.

[ipsi]

Well, this article is a hypothetical, but fire-proof safes are, like anything with "proof" in the name, not fire-proof, merely fire-resistant. It's theoretically possible for a lightning to strike in the worst possible place and trigger an unusually hot fire, one that exceeds the maximum tolerance for your safe. House fires can apparently hit 1500F, and if you've cheaped out on your safe then you might be in trouble (e.g., the Amazon Basics Fire Safe "can protect your belongings at 1200 F for 20 minutes").

[ubermonkey]

Fire safes are rated by time and temperature.

A particularly intense house fire could exceed the parameters of one's safe.

[makeitdouble]

As a LockPickingLawyer fan, I sometimes wonder if these “fire-proof” safes would actually withstand a fire, as there is so much bullshit labelling going on.

[dav_Oz]

For anyone confused about heat and temperature (which in everyday speech get often mixed up) here is a good thermodynamics recap about the definition.[0]

A lightning strike can heat up the air around it because of its relatively high electrical resistance; up to 50k degrees[1].

The change in temperature (average kinetic energy of the air molecules) itself can be seen in the lighting flash (creating for split seconds an awesome "plasma channel", effectively ripping apart the molecules in its dendritic way through hundreds of MV) and consequently heard (if near enough) as a pressure wave, a quick rolling thunder rumble.

Relative to the vast amount of air around a typical lightning discharge event with its characteristic current flow [2] this "temperature" cannot sustain itself so it disperses very quickly. However under the right conditions (flammable materials, humidity etc.) this can jumpstart the chemical process of "burning". Because of the multitude of variables this ain't straightforward [3] as often depicted in movies. So, no the lightning itself cannot "damage" the integrity of a safe but the secondary effects of the environment around it i.e. continuing heat source. (For convenience I've left out the scenarios regarding possible EMP damage and its secondary effects).

[0]https://www.khanacademy.org/science/chemistry/thermodynamics...

[1]https://www.weather.gov/safety/lightning-temperature

[2]https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6953689/table/e...

[3]https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6953689/#!po=85...

[rowanajmarshall]

Replace "house hit by lightning" with "house hit by missile strike and now occupied by the Russian Army", a very real scenario nowadays, and you have the same problem again.

[altairprime]

The 2017 Tubbs wildfire burned so hot that it melted fireproof safes, as I understand it. Something about 50-100mph winds and incompetent forest fuel management making the fire burn extra hot?

[leksak]

It was all hypothetical

> In the meantime, please rest assured that my home is still standing. But, if you can, please donate generously to the DEC's Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal

[Filligree]

A fire-proof safe is a safe which won't be destroyed by a fire.

That doesn't mean it won't heat up.

[netsharc]

That would violate the laws of thermodynamics...

They usually have a rating of how much fire heat they can sustain before the insides get uncomfortable for paper...

[abofh]

About 420 degrees, the question is duration, not temperature.