Posted on 06/11/2011 8:52:12 AM PDT by Second Amendment First
They said it was like napalm: it exploded in a flash, stuck to skin and clothing, and refused to stop burning.
A 14-year-old Long Island boy is fighting for his life after he was slathered with blazing, jellylike citronella fuel on May 28, when his cousin tried to light a ceramic firepot to prepare for a backyard wedding reception, but the quart bottle of fuel he was pouring instead burst into flames.
In Manhattan, a 24-year-old man has been on and off a ventilator after an almost identical blaze nearly killed him and badly wounded his best friend on June 3 as they were relaxing on the friend’s terrace.
The two accidents, less than a week apart, involved the same product: a gel fuel for ceramic firepots, scented with citronella to ward off insects on hot summer nights, and purchased from Bed Bath & Beyond.
The fuel is marketed by the retailer as FireGel, “the Safe Pourable Gel.” But survivors and witnesses to the two blazes likened it to a Molotov cocktail without so much as a wick.
“It’s just like gasoline in a bottle,” said Nancy Reyer, a single mother whose only child, Michael Hubbard, has been clinging to life in a hospital in Stony Brook on Long Island for nearly two weeks. “Watching my son just go up in flames like a tree — it just devastates me. I can’t get that image out of my mind.”
Relatives of the victims, and one survivor of the two local blazes, said the products came with understated warnings that gave no sense of how dangerous they could be to operate safely, and called for a recall or a ban.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
All in....
that keeps me from 'claymores in the foyer' and 'pungi [sp] pits' as well...
“small kids”
Speaking of small kids - I had my son and daughter shooting .22s as young as 5. The looks of absolute HORROR I received from some people (you know the type - utter idiots under any circumstances) when they heard that were priceless. (and I think I told them JUST to get their reaction anyway...I’m rotten like that - hahah!).
They grew up with firearms in the house, like I did. so they learned to respect them at an early age.
I think that it depends on the kids, too. Some mature faster than others, I suppose. I know some kids I would NEVER trust around a firearm, versus my own.
yesSirs...baby girl is 4 1/2, and ive got an ‘exciting’ summer planned fer her...napalm, molotovs and claymores, not so much, but .22s and splodin melons are on the agenda...8^}
She’ll have fun! Make sure you put up targets that “move” when she hits them. :-)
The fuel is marketed by the retailer as FireGel, “the Safe Pourable Gel.” But survivors and witnesses to the two blazes likened it to a Molotov cocktail without so much as a wick.
I suspect a BLEVE. Besides, the original Finnish Molotov Cocktails didn't have a wick.
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