Newspaper reported a couple weeks ago, that a local veterinarian and active community member had died as the result of an "outdoor furnace explosion ". It didn't provide specific details. I thought about calling the Sheriff in that county to find out, but learned that the man was trying to get the fire going and used acetone as an igniter. Sixty percent burns, and he died at the hospital. Likely lung damage too, I suspect. 47 years old. He seemed by the newspaper to be a good person, so I don't want to have his memory beat upon. Just a lesson on high risk short cuts that we have to be aware not to make. We work around some pretty dangerous equipment in our area of interest here. Dont be impatient or careless. I know folks here are- I bought a set of chaps and repaired my logging helmet for the face screen, rather than relying on my eyeglasses as protection. Such a tragedy.
Acetone can be nasty stuff. I frequently have a acetone rag on my welding table to clean aluminum and have watched it poof many times, and it's not that close to me welding either.
Yeah, acetone has similat properties to toluene, which is used by the meth heads to cook with. It is the reason you hear about them blowing up. They can create a long vapor trail that will flash back. On outdoor burner I know keeps a few sticks soaking in old engine oil as his re-starting source. I add a little cardboard when I need to give it a boost.
Over confidence and playing odds. We are all guilty of it from time to time, like safety guards that are in the way. Safe 99 times out of 100, but we don't keep count. Very sad.
I have a 55 gallon drum full of noodles . All the watery gas/diesel , filter drainings , settled crud from biodiesel tank and acetone goes in the noodles and burned in dads OWB for start ups and fast low water temp start up. Good way to get rid of it. After it soaks in the noodles a good while its a lot less volatile than throwing a cup full on an open flame.
My neighbor had a teen age son who tossed gasoline on a wood stove to get it to burn. It was stupid, but he burned his parents house down by doing so, but was not injured himself. I'll be honest with anyone, it is easy to point fingers but really how many of us can really not say, "I admit, I should have been dead from some things I have done in the past."
I'm Guilty of carrying the stupid flag once, "But only once"!!! I was about 16 and tried to start smoldering "wet wood" in a neighbors yard burning leaves and stuff with gas, needless to say that didn't go over so well, lost my eyebrows, most of my hair and had a serious sun burn on my face, hands and neck! As I said, I "only" did that once!!! Anyway, thats such a sad story.
One of the gals in my office has an OWB, and I told her about this .. A few years ago her husband got pretty good minor burns, when his brush fire ignited a sprayer sitting a good distance away from it. It has some chemical for treatment of their deck. After getting home from the hospital it seemed to be the only thing to have been the cause. People don't realize the distance some vapors are still potent.
As I read through these posts, I don't think the death had anything to do with the fact that there was an OWB involved. Sounds a lot more like poor judgment?
I imagine that it was frustration induced brain fade. Probably a few failed conventional attempts to get it going led to grabbing acetone.
How awful for the poor family. Couple likely scenarios.. 1. He's lit the stove like this a hundred times, and never had a problem - until this time. 2. I've been through these a few times more than I'd like to admit: you come home after a longer day than expected, or go to reload and find the fire out because a log rolled in front the fan, or it's just a matter of nodding off before the evening reload... Or maybe it was just colder than expected over night and all your fuel has been consumed.. And you think of the family getting cold, or that you're going to be late to work, or it's raining and you want to go inside, and really wish there was a fast way to get a couple hundred pounds of wood lit.. It's tempting to reach for shortcuts. Sadly this fellow seems to have caved to the temptation and paid for it with his life.
Unfortunately, as with #1, you can do it 99 out of 100 times, but it's only the once that truly counts. Very unfortunate that the poor judgement cost him his life. We don't know if he was in a hurry to get the fire going, or just disposing of excess Acetone from a possible project he had been working on. Acetone is some wicked stuff that I could not dream of dispensing on an open flame of any sort, and I'm one of "those guys" that has thrown gasoline on a bonfire to get it going "better" in the past. If I get that impatient nowadays, I stand back and light the pile with roman candles. Keeps me safely away from the pile, and I get to use some of my fireworks. Win/Win Sad that a momentary lapse of judgement cost him his life, and a LOT of un-necessary sadness and grieving for his family. Chaz
Very sad, same age as me. I have been guilty of doing some crazy stuff once or twice, hoping to never repeat them twice.
That's very sad. I've started brush-pile fires with used lacquer thinner. It doesn't explode like gasoline does, tho it will flash up in the air if allowed to vaporize very much on a hot day. But if the solvent flashes up, it will go in all directions. In a stove most of the burning gases will come straight out at you--VERY dangerous.
