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Man Burns House While Trying To Kill Yellow Jackets
WXII ^ | October 1, 2007 | Unknown

Posted on 10/01/2007 3:27:13 PM PDT by decimon

GREENSBORO, N.C. -- A Triad man who was trying to rid his home of pesky yellow jackets is now looking for a new home.

Authorities said Hugh Williams sprayed insecticide in a hole next to the St. Andrews Road house on Sunday, but that didn't kill the bugs.

He then stuck paper in the hole and lit it, but the fire spread into the house and the attic, authorities said.

The home on Monday was draped with a blue tarp, and the chimney was bruised with fire soot.

"We certainly do not advocate the burning out of these insects, although it may work," said assistant Greensboro Fire Chief David Douglas.

The family is safe and no injuries were reported, but about $80,000 worth of damage was done to the home.

Fire officials said the house has been condemned until repairs can be made.

Williams did not want to be interviewed.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events; US: North Carolina
KEYWORDS: chitchat
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To: mware
Here is the GIANT Hornet we have hanging out at our light. I had a thread up last week about it.

The house is still intact.

Although, we had a yellow jacket nest at the office a few weeks ago in the lawn that we took out with gasoline and flame.. Amazing, the nest was huge, when all the fire went away we had burnt grass going 3 feet away from the entrance. It collapsed the tunnel.

81 posted on 10/01/2007 5:30:06 PM PDT by abner (I have no tagline, therefore no identity.)
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To: txflake
In Japan I encountered insecticide with a spray top that had a four-inch flip-up barrel. Awesome stuff (probably banned utterly in the States). You could send a stream thirty feet with pinpoint accuracy sort of sighting down the barrel like a little RAID bazooka.

The Japanese have the right approach to the problem (as well as six-inch long venomous centipedes and millipedes that raise welts when they walk on you). It crawls, it dies. One time I was sitting watching sumo with my landlord with four mosquitoes circling above. He giggles and produces this spray can and barely touches the top, not even in their direction. I'm thinking "what's that going to accomplish?" and then they all went into little death spirals and crashed onto the table in front of us. If it had been a cartoon you'd have heard their engines screaming. We were warned in dire terms that smuggling that back into the States would result in life in the Big House, but it would have been worth it.

82 posted on 10/01/2007 5:31:49 PM PDT by Billthedrill
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To: tsomer
My neighbor was running a weed eater and hit a nest. I heard her screaming. They were attacking her and she was unable to go to her house as she was afraid they would get in and bite her grand baby. I yelled for her to run to my house (we live on acreages out here) and I had the hose ready. I sprayed cold well water on her and it seemed to stun the yellow jackets so that I could hit them and kill them. She must has been bitten 50 times or more, it was terrible. They were even in her socks and her bra!

My husband took a long tube and placed it over the hole to the hive. He poured gasoline down it and then threw a match. At that particular moment the local fire chief, who we had never seen before, happened to come by and inquire if my husband had a burn permit! What timing.

83 posted on 10/01/2007 5:32:40 PM PDT by pepperdog
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To: CarrotAndStick; maine-iac7

You may find this funny, but someone here was giving just this advice to others, regarding filling those tunnels with explosive gas and throwing in a flame, to get rid of gophers.
:::::::::::

You can buy a tool that does that here:

http://www.rodenator.com/


84 posted on 10/01/2007 5:37:09 PM PDT by loungitude (The truth hurts.)
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To: txflake
You were stung as a child, weren’t you?

Yes, but my psychoanalyst assures me that's not the source of my...problems.

85 posted on 10/01/2007 5:41:17 PM PDT by decimon
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To: tsomer
What gets me is this: he sprays the insecticide into the hole, lights it, and the fire spreads to the attic. How does the hole extend to the attic?

If the house was constructed with ballon framing there would be a perfect path to the attic. No doubt you are wondering what is ballon framing? That is where the wall studs run from the foundation all the way to the attic, typically in two story construction. Such framing creates an almost perfect chimney if you get a fire in the wall.

I know about this because my son and I spent the better part of an afternoon putting in fireblocks on our house framing when we did some renovation work a few years back. FWIW the floor joists for the second floor were real 2X8's, 25 foot long with nary a knot in the half a dozen or so that I inspected.

Regards

alfa6 ;>}

86 posted on 10/01/2007 5:42:44 PM PDT by alfa6
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To: Billthedrill
I have those centipedes, too. Trapped one under a glass couple weeks ago (despite their permanent nerve and skin damage upon stinging, they're astonishingly colorful and graceful), I'd sprayed him and waited for him to die, he never did. He recovered. I set him outside. Probably see him again.
87 posted on 10/01/2007 5:44:15 PM PDT by txhurl (Yes there were WMDs)
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To: abner
LOL, glad to hear it wasn't your house.

Be careful with those buggers, they hurt like the dickens if ya get stung.

88 posted on 10/01/2007 5:44:22 PM PDT by mware (By all that you hold dear..on this good earth... I bid you stand! Men of the West!)
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To: txflake

Yeesh. Uh, look, if he comes back selling Amway my advice is buy.


89 posted on 10/01/2007 5:48:25 PM PDT by Billthedrill
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To: Eaker; Squantos; Tijeras_Slim; humblegunner

This is sounds like something Eaker would do.


90 posted on 10/01/2007 5:52:09 PM PDT by TheMom (Dix, TexasCowboy and Flyer all now live in the next best place to Texas . . . Heaven!)
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To: decimon; Mike Bates
Sounds like a Yellowhammer ** trying to outsmart Yellowjackets....

**Yellowhammer - Illinois countryspeak for the severely inbred isolated communities.

91 posted on 10/01/2007 5:56:33 PM PDT by ErnBatavia (...forward this to your 10 very best friends....)
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To: alfa6
If the house was constructed with ballon framing there would be a perfect path to the attic.

I'm not sure it was balloon framing, though I'm not familiar with the exact area, I'd expect 8' or so walls, a floor plate and another plate to tie the walls.

From the story, or the part I read, those things would have had to tunnel through a cinder block or two, and then two or three 2x plates to get through to the attic. That's impressive.

FWIW the floor joists for the second floor were real 2X8's, 25 foot long with nary a knot in the half a dozen or so that I inspected.

Wow!

You probably wouldn't miss it too much if you removed just one.

92 posted on 10/01/2007 6:01:45 PM PDT by tsomer
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To: Billthedrill
This old spider thread still cracks me up:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1165423/posts

I need some SPIDER identification help.

A few weeks ago, I was bitten by a Brown Recluse (very painful and long lasting effects). One of my dogs was bitten by another spider - and my wife a couple days ago was also bitten - but NOT by another Recluse luckily.

Tonight I just found THIS rather large spider sitting at my back door - now dead!

93 posted on 10/01/2007 6:02:45 PM PDT by txhurl (Yes there were WMDs)
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To: tsomer

I have heard of some single story houses built with balloon framing it was more prevalent though in two story houses from what I have heard. At least in my area, Kansas.

We had a neighbors 2 story house across the street from us about 20 years ago burn up from a fire in the kitchen. The fire got into the wall and straight to the attic it went. If the next door neighbor to them had had a garden hose we probably could have stopped the fire spread till the Fire Dept showed up.

Our House is over 100 years old so I am not sure I would want to take any of the joists out!!!

Regards

alfa6 :>}


94 posted on 10/01/2007 6:10:37 PM PDT by alfa6
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To: mware

Well, one at a time is still coming to our light at night. As long as it is only one, I will let them live.

We think we have ours narrowed down to European Giant Hornets. Fairly docile if left alone. If they were the Asian variety, I would have already found the nest and decimated them.


95 posted on 10/01/2007 6:13:06 PM PDT by abner (I have no tagline, therefore no identity.)
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To: abner
I sure would like to know what kind of hornets they were.

I get half a dozen of them every year about this time of the year.

96 posted on 10/01/2007 6:16:39 PM PDT by mware (By all that you hold dear..on this good earth... I bid you stand! Men of the West!)
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To: ErnBatavia
Severely inbred? Gettin' mighty personable, ain't we?

I miss Millee.

97 posted on 10/01/2007 6:26:38 PM PDT by Mike Bates (Irish Alzheimer's victim: I only remember the grudges.)
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To: mware
Go here: What's that bug?

And check out the 4 or 5 pages of hornets... I think you will probably find what I did. European Giant Hornets.

98 posted on 10/01/2007 6:26:57 PM PDT by abner (I have no tagline, therefore no identity.)
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To: tsomer
When I was about six, I discovered a neat trick. We found an old bottle of insecticide with a spray pump. It would emit a pretty fair jet of mist if you leaned on the button. What was really cool was when you put a lit candle about 8 inches in front of it. It was like the fourth of July! Your very own dragon in the attic—that’s where we performed these experiments.

"Mama get Real-kill, you too dad!"

That old brown glass pump bottle was wicked in 1965!

I consider myself lucky that I survived too!

99 posted on 10/01/2007 6:42:23 PM PDT by higgmeister (In the Shadow of The Big Chicken!)
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To: TheMom

I figured he’d use the Barrett to kill em...........:o)

Nite Mom !


100 posted on 10/01/2007 6:44:42 PM PDT by Squantos (Be polite. Be professional. But, have a plan to kill everyone you meet. ©)
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