Loads of us have probably done this; a bit of white spirits or petrol etc. to get a reluctant BBQ or bonfire going, and probably had a near miss or two...

About six weeks ago I was trying to get the BBQ to start with no luck, even my trusty blow lamp appeared to fail. I found a half empty bottle of white spirits and went to slosh a bit on. Instantly there was an explosion, the whole bottle exploded in my hand (no doubt due to being half full of air) and covered me in burning fuel. I could see only a yellow haze and hear a high pitched roaring in my ears, but dropped to the ground and rolled to try to put it out, with no luck. Somehow I managed to get up and throw myself into our rather manky looking fishpond which did put the flames out.

Fortunately the next door neighbor saw the incident and rushed over to spray me down with a hose whilst the ambulance arrived. I was initialy diagnosed with 18% burns, which was then upgraded to 30% which was beyond the local hospitals capabilities, so was transferred into into the ITU in Bristol Southmead hospital.

Six weeks and numerous trips to theatre for skin grafts etc. and I'm finally home. Though I'm still a little way off healed, I'm mobile and getting better everyday, though looking slightly odd as my head was shaved at some point and my ears are still a bit crispy.

The moral is obvious; please think twice before doing something as stupid as I did. I've been kicking myself for weeks, and the nurses told me BBQ/bonfires +accelerants were responsible for numerous patients in the ward, some quite a lot worse than me.

As a side note I can honestly say I have never seen such an impressively clean and tidy hospital as Southmead, and the staff were exceptional in every way, so I am indebted to them for making my stay as comfortable as possible.

Not pleasant, but at least you're on the mend!

Have to admit I've tried to accelerate a bonfire before with petrol and came off worse for it - silly, but we think we'll get away with it.

BBQ wise I switched to gas sometime ago. Fair to say it doesn't quite have the same taste as a real BBQ, but the ignition and speed of operation makes it a lot easier to handle.

Hi Mike,

Glad your on the mend, not a nice experience, Hope that you make a good recovery and this post will come as a warning to others.. At least your around to tell the tail.

One of our neighbors used to start there bonfire using petrol not wise, every time there would be a loud explosion...

Also wise to think careful about solvent use in the garage, I myself a couple of times thinking "what if there was a source of ignition..". Also where and how we store them in the garage is less than ideal at the moment.

Dan

Damn, sorry to hear about that. Sounds frightening indeed! Glad you're on the mend.

I'm guilty of using white spirit (splashed from plastic bottle) to light numerous fireplace fires at home and BBQs too. I must admit it's not something I'd use petrol for, but I always thought white spirit was a lot less volatile and 'safer'. Well your story will certainly change my lazy fire-lighting habits. Thank you for sharing.

Ooh nasty...

Glad you're on the mend.

I've heard about people being caught by this, but it's always been "a friend of a friend". This brings it a bit closer to home! Few people realise the dangers involved with volatile inflammable liquids, especially commonplace stuff like petrol & thinners.

Good to hear you are on the mend. 'Crispy ears' doesn't sound good - just made me think of Lauda!

I've done similar before - always from a squirty bottle though, which I guess limits the changes of the fire moving back up into the bottle...

I have also been taking more care than before with things recently - got the MIG fired up in my new garage recently - and just before I started - thought it might be sensible to move the box of left over fireworks from last Nov well out of the way (!!!). I also discovered that MIG can give you sunburn - which I was unaware of - will be wearing overalls not just shorts and t shirt next time!

Also - I have been doing some angle grinding - and have been using a full face mask. Last weekend I felt something hit it fairly hard right in the eyes/nose sort of area - presumably a chunk of cutting disc which had come away...

I think the family think I'm a bit silly with all the PPE bits and pieces sometimes - but I'm glad I have them now!

gosh that sounds horrific,

thats the way I have heard it will happen, the flame travels back up the pouring liquid and ignites, especially if mixed up into a vapour.

nasty wake up call for everyone, I too have never heard such a direct story.

glad to hear you made it and the fish pond was there.. I don't have one of those!

everyone else is right, it is far to easy to assume it will be alright, especially with angry grinding or welding.. shall be thinking more about protecting things.

hope the recovery continues to go well.

Chris

Yikes. Nasty! Good to share that kind of lesson- might save someone else. I must admit I once decided to "gee up" a bonfire with some old petrol / 2 stroke oil I had knocking around for so long I didn't want to use it. The most spectacular bit was the massive "whoop" and the fact that the vapour had clearly spread quite a long way over the floor because suddenly my feet were surrounded by blue flames. Haven't done that again recently...

Worst burns I ever saw was someone welding a fuel tank using oxy- they hadn't taken the lid off so the tank got pressurised with vapour and developed a pin-hole right next to their torch. They weren't wearing a full-face shield either.

horrible - but most people are guilty of such things. I am very cautious when putting diesel on already lit stuff, it does explode if it gets hot enough.

Glad you survived it Mate and are on the mend, scary incident

I can only echo the comments above, NEVER use a bottle of accelerant to light a fire, even a squirty one. If you must use something, use fire lighters, or apply the accelerant first and light afterwards, BUT, if lighting something which has been doused with petrol/white spirit, remember the vapour and light with a VERY long taper.

Just in case your contemplating a new chassis I'd lay off the MIG for a while.

That spatter can make you jump.

ATB

Brings back memories of a BBQ at Le Mans quite a few years ago
glad you are better,fire is your best friend and can be your worst enemy.

Glad your on the mend mate.

I did the same lighting a fire to burn some branches but clearly nothing as bad as yours.

Used a petrol can, flame went into it and fuel spilt onto my arm and burnt the hair off my hand and my jumper. ZERO proper damage to me.

As others have agreed, I've also done similar stunts to get bonfires and BBQs going. I fear I sail too close to the wind too many times with stuff like this and lack of PPE. Like most folks, I think it'll never happen to me. I'll think twice now. Thanks for the kick in the plums to wake me up!!

Thank you all for the well wishes. I'm definitely on the mend but without a doubt it's changed my attitude to fire and volatile liquids. I just hope anyone that reads this thinks twice before doing what so many of us have done before.

Glad you are on the mend. Whenever I try anything like that it tends to put the BBQ out. Maybe I should think myself lucky!

I used to use white spirit or some sort of flammable liquid but I would never use petrol.

No I have a beast of a heat gun I use that. It gives two sides of the fire triangle in bundles and very quickly creates an inferno.

As safe as you can get except for the exploding coals.

Our neighbour did the same at his daughters 18th birthday and burnt his whole face. 3 years on and many skin grafts later he is slowly improving but the worst thing was when it happened were the screams from him that's something I won't forget.

[Edited on 12/10/16 by hearbear]