Posted on 05/18/2012 12:58:36 PM PDT by shove_it
A California mother is recovering from second- and third-degree burns after colored rocks her family collected from a southern California beach unexpectedly caught fire while in her shorts pocket.
"We were talking about who was going to pick up the babysitter," Lyn Hiner said today on "Good Morning America." "And all of a sudden something hot on my leg just sort of started to bother me so I started thinking it was a bug bite, so I started slapping it and the next thing I know my pants were on fire."
The harmless-looking, green- and orange-colored rocks, which Hiner's daughters found Saturday on San Onofre State Beach in southern California, are now the subject of an intense scientific investigation.
Hiner, 43, had put the rocks in her pocket after they left the beach. As she and her husband, Rob Hiner, were preparing to go out later that evening, the rocks suddenly erupted in her pants.
Rob Hiner, who appeared on "GMA" alongside his wife at the Santa Ana, Calif., burn center where she is being treated, said the couple had no idea what was happening.
"It was just this bright intense flame," he said. "We didn't know what it was. Our first response was just to try to pat it out.
"But, In trying to pat it out, it wasn't going out so the next thing was just to try and drop and roll and eventually we just tried to tear her shorts off and got them off of her," he said.
[...]
(Excerpt) Read more at gma.yahoo.com ...
She wearing 70’s hot pants?
Phosphorous.
Happened to some dummass kid at our high school as well.
The chem teacher was showing the class how phosporous burst into flame when exposed to air, and the kid thought it was so cool, he tried to steal some in his pants pocket.
Sounds like a potential alternative energy source to me. Maybe she can finagle a contract with Obama’s Department of Green Energy.
Well, whose shorts haven’t been on fire at one time or another? Usually after eating hot peppers.
LOL! We watch Ancient Aliens sometimes. That is those guys answer to every thing that comes up, ancient aliens did it!
Posphorus burns when dry. It should be kept wet for storage.
Sodium slowy oxidises when dry. In the presence of water, it burns intensely. It should not be kept wet for any kind of storage.
Be careful not to wet your pants when packing phosphorus rocks.
Thanks. :-)
Ancient aliens. Sounds reasonable.
Yesterday is “old”?
:]
Yep, don’t get your phosphorous storage mixed up with your sodium metal storage...
Sodium metal should be kept in something besides water that protects it from the air. IIRC, my chem teacher kept it in alcohol.
Heh. Nice.
People need to stop smoking Crack!
I’m tired of over-thinking things so I’m just going with ‘ancient aliens’ from now on.
Simplify.
;D
The most important line in the story...
eventually we just tried to tear her shorts off and got them off of her,” he said.
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