A cautionary tale.

[USER1999]

I might have posted this before, but I made a comment on the whisky thread which reminded me of some thing which happened a few years ago.

I had cut a lot of trees down in my garden, and had been gradually burning the wood to get rid of it (wish I had kept it for my chimnea, but there you go). I had a pile about 8 ft high, and about 12 ft across, so there was a lot to burn. I'd have a bonfire most nights, and burn a sensible amount at a time, so it didn't get out of hand.

This particular night, it was a bit dark, damp and drizzly, but undeterred, I went out anyway, and mounded up the nights offerings to the fire god. I put a load of old newspaper at the bottom of the pile, and lit it, but could I get the bonfire going? Could I heck. It was all too damp. So I had an idea.....

Petrol.

That'll get it going.

(Stella had been consumed, I admit).

So I went and got my petrol can. I didn't think I'd need much, so I carefully poured a mug full out, and poured it over my bonfire. I then retired to a safe distance. About 6 feet away. At this point, I started thinking about setting it alight. Maybe I should have poured a little on the grass, to make a trail like in the movies. Or, I could light a twig, and try throwing it at the fire from distance (seen this done in movies too, with a match or cigarette). This seemed easier, so out came the lighter. I hadn't got a twig yet, but thought I'd test the lighter first.


I clicked the lighter, and instantly the whole world turned bright orange.

I was engulfed in a massive fire ball.

As luck would have it, it went out almost instantly, but idiot here is wearing a hawaiaan shirt made out of man made fibres . As a result, my shirt is now on fire. I have also forgotten to put the cap back on the petrol can, so I am holding a can with 4 ft of flame shooting out of it, and most of half a gallon still in it.

Calmness personified, I put the lid back on the can. Jeez, I must have been hammered, as if I had been sober total panic would have set in. I then slapped my shirt with my wet hands and put my shirt out.

Got to be honest, I got off lightly. If it hadn't been raining, I think my shirt would have gone up big time. I lost some hair, my eye brows, and burned my hands a bit, but not badly.
I figured explaining it to the missus might be tough, but she had seen the glow reflected off the ceiling in the study, and figured I had been an idiot, so was not that surprised at my appearance. (She has also known me for a long time, and has ceased being surprised at any thing stupid that I do).


I now use tea lights to start fires, which work very well, and are a heck of a lot safer.



Never, ever, use petrol (or similar) to light a bonfire or barbecue.

 

[bigslice]

lol, idiot. my pal (and its defo not me) had moved into a new house. in his back door were three huts. he didnt need 2 of them and they were in a bad way. so one saturday night he set fire to them!!!! only for the flames to set fire to one of his neighbours hut. we managed to put the fire out. his neighbour came back his holidays to find he had a brand new hut!!!! he was very understanding

 

[Doon frae Troon]

Something similar happened to one of my staff, I saw him going for his lighter and it was like a slo-mo picture of me yelling NOOOOOOOOOOO and the flame of his lighter hitting where he had poured some petrol. Lost his eyebrows and a bit of his hair but otherwise a very lucky boy.

Great idea with the tea lights, never to old to learn something new.

 

[GreiginFife]

Few years ago (well 15 to be exact) me and a group of mates used to go up north on fishing weekends. Now I say fishing but it was actually drinking with some fishing in between.
One year we ended up at Lochindorb, it's "near" Grantown on Spey, it is a bit barren and with the exception of a castle on an island there is no life for miles.
We set up a wee camp fire with wood that was a "bit wet" so my mate, with insight-at-the-speed-of-beer, decided petrol is the answer. So he douses the pile. Goes to light it, nothing. Won't ignite. He tried this a few times before we conclude that the wood was just too wet and go to look for more. We get no more than 15 yards from the campsite and there is a massive (and I mean mahoosive) whoosh sound and all the air in the vicinity was sucked out. It was like slow motion I looked at this tiny wee pile of logs and see the biggest, most orange fireball emerge from the base. Cue return to real time, the ensuing explosion puts 10 grown men on their arses as this fireball rolls up in to the air through the lower branches of a Scots pine, that had survived at least 200 years unscathed, setting fire to that as it went. One tent had been melted to a small smouldering puddle (leaving us with a sleeping dilemma) and the small pile of logs and twigs that were the fire are now scattered over a large are of heather and scrub that is now well ablaze. Stunned and panicking we ran around trying to douse all of the fires, not knowing which ones to tackle first - Dazed, Drunk and definitely Confused!

Seems that you can actually use too much petrol to light a fire, but when that turns to vapour - well it's quite dangerous it would seem.

Moral of this tale, like Murph's - Don't use petrol to light a fire!

 

[upsidedown]

Love having bonfires and one of the joys of living out in the sticks is having them often, this one went really well, just some old newspaper and one match :thup:

 

[CMAC]

I've been using tea lights for years, ever since I thought "just a bit more petrol on the chimnea logs" resulted in a special effect the 'A' team would have been proud of. Scary stuff.

 

[bigslice]

i should mention that North Ayrshire is a smoke free zone, and as my dad made it so i give my pal grief whenever he has a bonfire.

 

[bladeplayer]

Man o man do i hear ya murph , bout 9 year ago ,was just after finishing geting house built , there was a big hole in one corner of the site full of rubbish , gobshite here decides to burn it , poured a "drop" (not) of petrol on it & waited for the fumes to clear a bit ..

I stepped back well, but on hind sight not well enough , had 5 or 6 foot piece of rafter, plan was to light piece of cloth & drop it in from 5 foot away .. lit the cloth & WOOOOOOSH like a bloody jet engine going off around my head , hair & eye lashes singed & the smell of burning hair , wow , the rubbish in the hole went up like a tinder house , scared the bejeepers out of me ,, will never forget it

 

[MegaSteve]

shirt made out of man made fibres

This was the 'lucky' bit... An acquaintance had a motorsport accident where the car caught fire... Having the appropiate 'fireproof' overalls saved him BUT he had forgotten to change his socks... They still had some nylon content and to say his poor old feet/ankles were a mess is an understatement... I am sure you know already but had your shirt been poly/cotton you may not of got off so lightly...

 

[Wildrover]

I was in the Navy for 23 years, joined 4 years after the Falklands and they had learned that lesson the hard way. Previously man made uniform was now cotton. Didn't last as long but was a lot safer. We used to do a lot of fire fighting training as you can't call the fire brigade in the atlantic and it amazes me that people still use petrol to light fires. It isn't the liquid that is the danger, it is the vapour that you don't see. The fire fighting suits we used were made from 30 layers of compressed wool and were heavy as hell, especially when wet. The fire retardancy of them was better than the FB use but they don't stop the heat. When you descend down a vertical ladder into thick smoke from a fuel based fire, it gives you more than a healthy respect for what it can do, even if it is only an exercise.

 

[munro007]

I love fires, a pity my old bowling club didn't. As a kid of 5, i found some matches. So i was playing with them, and lit some and threw them into a bin. Thought no more of it, and went to sunday school (Hahahaha) i know. 30 minutes later i heard all the sirens, 3 hours later, bowling club no more. Lucky for me, no one was hurt. I learnt a valuable lesson on that day. Me and fires, are a no no. : (

 

[Bigfoot]

Working in chemicals teaches a lot about safety. Thats why I rarely have a mobile switched on unless I am on holiday. It is so dangerous where flammables are concerned. You never know until it is too late. I do atmosphere checks to make sure a vessel is safe before work commences, as part of my job.

 

[thecraw]

I love fires, a pity my old bowling club didn't. As a kid of 5, i found some matches. So i was playing with them, and lit some and threw them into a bin. Thought no more of it, and went to sunday school (Hahahaha) i know. 30 minutes later i heard all the sirens, 3 hours later, bowling club no more. Lucky for me, no one was hurt. I learnt a valuable lesson on that day. Me and fires, are a no no. : (

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmin5WkOuPw

 

[bigslice]

I love fires, a pity my old bowling club didn't. As a kid of 5, i found some matches. So i was playing with them, and lit some and threw them into a bin. Thought no more of it, and went to sunday school (Hahahaha) i know. 30 minutes later i heard all the sirens, 3 hours later, bowling club no more. Lucky for me, no one was hurt. I learnt a valuable lesson on that day. Me and fires, are a no no. : (

im hoping that you admitted to what you done

 

[munro007]

im hoping that you admitted to what you done

No this is me confessing now. Hahahaha it didn't take long for the police to catch up with me.

On the upside, they did get a brand new club.

 

[bigslice]

years ago my papa was a headmaster in kilwinning i would be about 10 year old. someone burnt his school down he was devastated then retired. years later im about 23 and i met the boy that done it. he was all chuffed about , i was raging and was going to batter him. just to get him back to what he had done to my papa. two weeks later this boy was found in paisley in the car park in the sky with his knee caps blown off.
all this is a true story, both incidents unrelated and for legal reasons it defo wasnt me

 

[munro007]

Ah is this why i have a sore knee, someone up there with a voodoo doll. Karma and all that. Cheers mate : )

 

[JustOne]

Working in chemicals teaches a lot about safety. Thats why I rarely have a mobile switched on unless I am on holiday. It is so dangerous where flammables are concerned. You never know until it is too late. I do atmosphere checks to make sure a vessel is safe before work commences, as part of my job.

Did a mobile phone under 'normal' conditions really EVER start a fire?

Sure if (for example) you're lowering yourself into the empty fuel tanks of a navy destroyer then YES it could pose a danger but even those things are de-fumed before someone would be allowed to enter. What is it that you do that involves such a toxic (and potentially explosive) atmosphere?