No, kerosene still exists and is sold as fuel for heaters and lamps, both in jugs and from pumps at specialty fuel stations.
Sounds like something is missing from this account. Kerosene’s flash point (where it generates a high enough concentration of its fumes in air that it would support a flame) is well above 100 degrees F, and it won’t ignite or keep burning without the action of something like a wick that allows the local temperature to be kept above that flash point. It would be very difficult to start an accidental fire by spilling kerosene. If this were gasoline or a kerosene-gasoline mix, that would be a different story.
Perhaps he got his containers mixed up. I’ve always thought of kerosene as fairly safe...seeing that a lamp features an open flame right above it. And notwithstanding the Darwin Award posts on this thread, I have added fuel to a lit lamp before. Heck, I’ve tried to use kerosene as a lighter fluid for charcoal, with no success.