We make regular use of a kerosene heater in our home. A real pain to replace the wick every couple of years - looking up the right cross reference and finding one. You’d think by now I’d have a few extra wicks and igniters on hand, but no. I wonder if this guy poured kerosene directly into the flame? We never fill our heater unless it’s been turned off for at least 15 minutes.
Wick type heaters aren't burning liquid fuel, the fuel drawn up by the wick is heated by the metal wick guides, vaporized, and the vapors burn in a controlled environment. Fuel spilled elsewhere on the heater is a bomb.