It's 2004. Lit.
I play with propane quite a lot. I'm in to pulsejet engine building (see www.pulse-jets.com). The hobbyists use it in their test engines because it is (relatively) benign. The gas and flame rises away from you, and since it is a gas it doesn't cover you in flamable liquid during a flashback.
Propane has a wide range of mixtures where it will burn. If you have a lean mixture, what you will get is a "boom" rather than a flame. I suspect our Darwin candidates were just barely lucky.