One fella I know decided to add Accelerant
to a giant pile of leaves, as he had done 40 times before.

This time the whole deal went side ways, He wound up rolling across the yard to put himself out.

Wife drove him to the e.r. ,2nd degree burns up to one elbow . three days of treatment and he'll be fine.

story number two :
four high school girls wanted a fire out on the farm , the parents ok'ed it.

same deal , threw gas on it , and all four are still in the hospital 2 weeks later.

another fella :
burning limbs, branch's , leaves used paint thinner to get more flame's , two days in the hospital and released,

2nd degree burns all over the place.


I don't know how to do it the right way , or how it's supposed to be done, but please be careful

With gasoline, particularly in hot weather, there is no "right way". The vapor goes everywhere, and when you light it, the vapor burns too. It's kind of fun from a distance, but not so cool if you're close.

Better accelerants are diesel, kerosene, or that charcoal starter shit. And any of those can ruin your day if you throw them on an existing fire. Some asshole gave me a haircut, shave, and eyebrow removal on the right side by squirting that Gulf Charcoal Starter shit into a clam bake I was running. Flared off just fine!

If you have to use gas, put a modest amount on the pile of wood (very modest), and then lead a trail of gas across the ground, maybe 5 feet or more. Put gas can 30+ feet away, and drop match on trail. You'll know when it lights from the WHOOOMMMPP! you hear and the flaming debris raining down around you.

Good luck. The resulting mummy costume will be killer for Halloween.

quote:

Originally posted by ArtieS:
With gasoline, particularly in hot weather, there is no "right way". The vapor goes everywhere, and when you light it, the vapor burns too. It's kind of fun from a distance, but not so cool if you're close.

Better accelerants are diesel, kerosene, or that charcoal starter shit. And any of those can ruin your day if you throw them on an existing fire. Some asshole gave me a haircut, shave, and eyebrow removal on the right side by squirting that Gulf Charcoal Starter shit into a clam bake I was running. Flared off just fine!

If you have to use gas, put a modest amount on the pile of wood (very modest), and then lead a trail of gas across the ground, maybe 5 feet or more. Put gas can 30+ feet away, and drop match on trail. You'll know when it lights from the WHOOOMMMPP! you hear and the flaming debris raining down around you.

Good luck. The resulting mummy costume will be killer for Halloween.

You're supposed to take turns with the Orion from across the yard.

I’ve found the best and safest way is to use a small propane canister with a bernzomatic torch and a pile of dry sticks to get started. I start the wood stove the same way every year.

No accelerants, no messy 2nd or 3rd degree burns, just a couple of extra minutes to get a roaring fire going. Using explosive flammables are an unnecessary, potentially dangerous mistake.

My neighbor gave me a Bernzomatic fire starter like gearhounds, to use when we used to go camping with the scouts. It uses a small propane tank and it works like a jet engine. You can even get wet leaves to burn.

Good times...

Try blue darting around a camp fire 10 miles into the Sierra Madres with a bunch of other scouts encouraging the scatacephally. LOL.

I can only imagine how hard it was for him to finish the 50 miler with a singed bumhole......

I'm confident he never tried that again.

we pour a little kerosene or diesel into a empty soup can and then burn that and stack the wood over it...

never use gasoline or paint thinner or stuff like that...kerosene and diesel dont vapor off at regular temps and the vapor is what burns

Just because you do something stupid and get away with it many times doesn't mean you'll escape the uncaring law of averages....

My nephew, now 24, found a gas can while playing with friends age 12 or so, I still don't know the whole story because he won't talk about it much but he managed to set himself on fire from the waist down and the only way he survived was a cop DRIVING DOWN HIS STREET saw this kid ON FIRE run out in front of him.

He spent weeks in Children's Hospital in Philly with second and third degree burns on his legs which are still horrifically scarred up and will be for the rest of his life.

There was a Motor Pool Sergeant welding a jeep gas tank at Camp Coiner, Seoul, in 1959.

He apparently didn't rinse out the tank enough.

Like I said....there WAS a Motor Pool Sergeant.

We used to throw old spray cans in the fire and watch them blow up as kids (12-13yo or so). The marble would start ticking before they blew so you had a little idea when they'd go off.

One day, this kid threw one that bounced out a little bit. After a while he decided to pick it up and toss it back in, and as he picked it up it started pinging... then blew up in his hand. He didn't lose the hand, but had severe burns all the way up to his bicep and the side of his face as well.

That was the last time I ever even though of tossing anything into a fire.

was hoping that someone in a fire dept . would educate us a bit

been around a lot of fire in my day. Primarily use it as a tool for clearing and burning slash. Fire is a great tool for doing that. I have burned piles larger than big houses. I respect it, do not fear it. I have used it as a great and valuable resource. I really like fire.
It is like anything else. It can hurt you and destroy things. There is a time and a place. It is not to be taken lightly. And many people lack skill, knowledge and common sense to use it or be around it to any degree.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: old rugged cross,

When I was maybe ten, a friend and I poured about half a Ball jar of gas down the hole at the edge of a solid man hole cover, followed by a lit match. I'll guess the man hole cover blew three or four feet in the air. The rush of air preceding the flames had already knocked us back, out of fire danger.

I doubt there are fire safety courses telling people not to do this, some things you go ahead and learn on your own.

When I was a sophomore in high school, we had an annual celebration for homecoming. This involved a LOT of burnable stuff collected from all over town, piled up for burning. Big deal.

Part of this was to prevent the kids from Clarkston (WA) from coming over and setting fire to our pile. We, of course, tried to set theirs off as well.

The night we were scheduled to start our fire, one of the kids in our class decided to help it get started. By dumping gasoline from a 55 gallon barrel on the fie. Only had a gallon or so in the barrel. Plenty go make a really loud boom and spray the kid with burning gasoline.

He spent some time in the hospital, but was not all that seriously injured. Thank God!

I sometimes use gasoline to take out ground dwelling hornets/wasps. Pour some down the hole, run a trail of gasoline back at least 10 feet. Use that trail as "wick" to set off the nest. Very careful not to use too much gasoline, and to make sure I have plenty of space.

quote:

Put gas can 30+ feet away,

Around 12 yrs old, my friend and I raked my lawn and he put a thin stream of gasoline across the leaves. When he was done and standing off to the side, I lit a match and dropped it onto the pile. Once the flames reached the end, they continued on through the air about 10' right to the gas can nozzle my friend was holding.

He dropped the can and luckily it landed upright. The can was almost full and the nozzle burned for a minute before going out.
Lesson learned.

After getting one of these to light my wood-burning smoker, I've used it a couple times to start brush piles.

It's pretty awesome. Have to not just let anybody run it....

^^^I love mine!

I know a teen girl who was burned across her face when someone decided it was a good idea to throw a cup of gasoline onto a bonfire.