Posted on 01/16/2010 11:45:07 AM PST by Chet 99
NEWARK -- A man was in critical condition Friday night when he accidentally lit himself on fire with a cigarette while cleaning motorcycle parts and unintentionally splashed himself with gasoline, authorities said.
The incident occurred at 7:57 p.m. at a residence on 14th Avenue near South 19th Street where a man was cleaning motorcycle parts when he splashed himself with gasoline, said Newark Fire Chief Michael Lalor.
He then lit a cigarette and accidentally lit himself on fire, Lalor said. Relatives rushed over and put the flames out.
(Excerpt) Read more at nj.com ...
Did he ask his buddy to hold his beer before he lit the cigarette?
Some people wake up to a brand new world everyday.
I use kerosene to clean parts with....far less volitile than gasoline....
However, I’ve used gas in a pinch.....
But when I do, I make sure I’m outside and away from any ignition source.....If I splash some on my clothes I leave them outside to air out......Any rags used are also left outside.....
Sigh....I bet this guy still runs with sissors....
Motorcyclists aren’t optimized on brains - particularly those that work on their own bikes using gasoline as a solvent. (I do ride a motorcycle.)
I wouldn’t want him riding next to me.
I don’t, won’t and never have had to use gasoline as a solvent. I have one more rule for anyone helping me. Drinking is okay when tearing her down and completely unacceptable while putting her back together. Works for me. ;>)
I always used gasoline, and never kerosene - primarily because it's harder to get kerosene. Right now, for example, I have no clue who sells it nearby, but I have a pretty good idea where to get gasoline :-) And I always have about 3 gal of gasoline for my garden tools, so it's easy to access.
But one thing you need to watch for, besides fire, is gasoline poisoning. It enters through skin easily. But it is an excellent solvent for car/motorcycle work, and it is cheap, and it evaporates quickly. I don't smoke, so fire was never a serious danger.
Almost a Darwin award nominee.
One thing that alot DIYs don’t realize is that any “safe” petroleum based solvent commonly used for parts cleaning can become highly volatile if the temperature of the solvent is raised even a few degrees. I found this out firsthand the hard way on a drilling rig one starry night out in west Texas. Yup.
Light a man a fire and he’ll be warm for a day, but light him on fire, and he’ll be warm the rest of his life.
Next on the “List of stupid things to do: “I think I’ll get drunk and clean my gun collection’’.
I am a Firefighter and am in charge of a lot of our public education curriculum including elementary and middle school programs. One of the big things I try to educate on is not using gasoline for lighting fires as it is just too dangerous. Kerosene is a much safer choice. One of the demonstrations I do is dropping a lit match into a beaker of kerosene because it doesn’t start on fire. I also do the same thing with gasoline and it always lights right up. I also happen to keep a gallon of kerosene in my garage for aid in starting campfires and occasionally cleaning mechanical things. Additionally I would like to mention a supply of medical exam type gloves are great to have around to keep your hands free from solvents which always seem to leave residue and smell on unprotected body parts.
Thanks for using this man’s misfortune to tell us all how intelligent YOU are.
While almost all petrleum based solvents are flamable, gasoline is in it’s own class......
I won’t store it in my house or garage....
I have a separate cabinet outside the house about 30 feet away from the structure with charcol starter etc.........
It’s treated like a low grade explosive....
You are a fireman and you throw a lighted match into gasoline? What exactly are you trying to demonstrate.
Bets are it wasn’t the brightest move by this cyclist and probably and luckily won’t be the last.
Great. And a million dollars worth of medical treatments and disability payments later, he’ll be almost good as new and ready to resume his life of doing unspeakably stupid things. And you and I will be paying the tab, through some combination of taxes and higher “private” insurance premiums.
Seriously, if people were left to deal with the financial and or lack-of-treatment fallout of stupidity like this, there would be a lot less of it, because there would be a lot more cultural awareness of what sorts of “accidents” devastate a family financially and devastate individual people who don’t have the financial resources to pay for more than minimal medical treatment after something like this.
FAIL
Another failing grade on an IQ test.
It’s a small beaker with a little bit of gasoline in the bottom. The beaker has a wide top so it is not explosive, like a gun barrel would be. By the way we also do a demonstration with a drop of gasoline in a plexiglass tube where we turn the lights off and light it on one end. It’s a cool light show. Comes from an old “Chemistry of Fire” program.
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