Gas blew up in my face today

[Soldier415]

I had a similar experience but was not so lucky. This happened back in 2014. Needed to touch off a brush pile.

I knew Gas was not the right choice but thought I could mitigate the hazards

I normally use diesel or bar and chain oil but didn't have any. Had some 2 month old gas so spread that over the pile of branches and other yard waste, let it sit for 20 minutes for the vapors to disperse.

Unfortunately the top layer of the pile was burlap type screening you put down before mulch and it trapped the gasoline vapors in the pile. Went to light it and less than a foot away...WHUMP! Huge gasoline fireball enveloped me as I was right in front of a void in the side of the pile where vapors were trapped.

After the explosion while back pedaling I rubbed my hands all over my head rapidly to put out my hair which was on fire. Doing that also tore pieces of burnt skin off. Stopped dropped and rolled to put out my sweatshirt. Unfortunately doing that caused the burned skin to slough off my hand from the friction on the ground of rolling. Saw that the gas can was like 5-10 feet from the fire so I ran and grabbed it and moved it farther away.

Floored ATV to the house to look in the mirror. Took one look and knew this was really really ****ing bad and I would not be driving myself to the ER. Called 911, relayed situation and requested EMS for me and to roll fire to put out the brush pile so there wouldn't be an unattended fire. After 911 I put the dogs in their crates, locked the house and truck and went to wait for EMS in the driveway. Was doing tactical breathing to manage pain and keep myself from delving into shock.

Took 15 minutes for ambulance to get there, another 5 mins on scene to start an IV line and get vitals, then another 25 minute drive to the ER. This was the worst pain I have ever felt in my life.

At the ER I had to be knocked out and intubated/ventilated due to concerns about my airway, then transferred an hour away to the emergency burn unit. Incidentally, I woke up right as they started to intubate me. I was fully aware, yet paralyzed and could not breath. Not a pleasant experience

These pictures are of me after 2 days in the burn unit, with second degree burns covering almost all of my face, head and right hand. Mot of my hair was burned off, as were my eyebrows and eye lashes.

The recovery was extremely painful as I had to scrape dead burned skin off every morning. It is not worth it. Even if you have done it 99 times, the 100th may be the time it doesn't work for you.

 

[k0ua]

Man, oh Man. Wow.. I hope you healed up OK.

 

[k0ua]

Alright, I guess if a man has guts enough to post pictures of himself after his mishap, I suppose I will man up and tell mine.

I had a huge brush pile after cleaning up the land at my previous residence many years ago. I started off with some used motor oil with some gasoline in it to get the flames going. Yes it was a wet day and I didn't have much worry about the fire getting out of control. Or so I thought. But the amount of fire starter did not satisfy my urge to get it all going at once, so I finished off with some more pure gasoline. I put the gas can far far away, I knew the dangers of fumes spreading. I made a gas trail of about 25 feet which I judged would be enough, and made a little circle of gasoline which I thought I could hit with a thrown match. I knew this was going to be bad, so I want all the space I thought I needed.

I moved away from the little circle about 10 feet more and turned around and threw a match into it. I hit the circle with the match, and took off running. Woof, then KABOOM!. OMG, I was running in the opposite direction and it nearly knocked me down with the heatwave and blast. Then when I looked back around, I noticed the flames were at least 30 foot tall, and I wondered if some of the surrounding trees were going to be in danger. Some of the leaves on the surrounding trees did wilt a bit, but nothing caught on fire.

Long story short, the fire burned for a couple of days (just big hot coals glowing thru the night), but while I knew the blast was going to happen, it was a heck of a lot bigger than I anticipated. I took precautions of the gas trail and the match throwing, but even then I was closer than I should have been. And the conflagration was just so much bigger than I anticipated. I made a vow to never do that again. I was totally unhurt, but if I was closer, I sure could have been.

When your parents told you not to play with gasoline and matches, they were right...:ashamed:

 

[hawkeye08]

We used gasoline as parts cleaner growing up on farm.. never gave it a second thought.. on stray spark and I would not be here typing this. Pa smoked too so it was not unusual to have a lit cigarette nearby..

I have a parts cleaner (not used it yet) and some biodegradable cleaner for it.. was complaining about gasoline working so much better, but not so much now.. non flammable cleaners are a good thing, may be more work, but I don't have the risks.

 

[teejk]

We used gasoline as parts cleaner growing up on farm.. never gave it a second thought.. on stray spark and I would not be here typing this. Pa smoked too so it was not unusual to have a lit cigarette nearby..

I have a parts cleaner (not used it yet) and some biodegradable cleaner for it.. was complaining about gasoline working so much better, but not so much now.. non flammable cleaners are a good thing, may be more work, but I don't have the risks.

I keep a jug of kerosene around in addition to the "green" stuff that works if you have the time. Smaller parts I use medical alcohol (still flammable but evaporates so fast it's never been an issue).

 

[tractorshopper]

I had this experience once when a lot younger, starting a small pile on fire. Luckily it was a small pile. I doused with gasoline, stood back a little and flicked a match. It took off in a huge whoosh that didn't hurt me, but blew my mind. I had gone back to the house and killed a little time looking for the matches, so the vapors had time to become much larger than anything I had expected for the little gas I had used many times before with nowhere near the same effect.

I mentioned it to a friend at work and they told me to never use gas and some stories of people they had heard about or known similar to Soldier's experience. I'm glad I learned the easy way from others and my much smaller version of this. I now generally take a rag and put some diesel on it, then light that rag downwind on my piles and let it slowly burn against any light wind (not burning on actual windy days) on wet days after a rain or during drizzles now. I can take my time and this keeps the fires more under control than lighting them on the wind blown side where they can get out of control quick.

I also try to burn as early after creating the piles as I can. If the wood is too green, it just won't burn and that is fine, but I keep trying each week if possible until the wood has dried just enough to slowly burn.

I had one large pile that sat for nearly a year one time and when I lit it, the flames were huge like 20 feet in the air. Glad I made the pile in the middle of the field that time. After that, I figured to try to burn before the brush dried out too much to keep it more in control.

Thanks to the OP for starting this thread and the others that contributed their own mishaps and injuries. Hopefully someone reading this thread will learn from you and not have to suffer. You may save a life with this.

 

[Soldier415]

Man, oh Man. Wow.. I hope you healed up OK.

I recovered fully without any permanent scarring. My hair hasn't grown back as full, and I have mottled skin tone on my right hand that is noticeable from close up.

Other than that I dodged a big bullet. Could have stayed looking like freddy kreuger.

 

[Sigarms]

I recovered fully without any permanent scarring. My hair hasn't grown back as full, and I have mottled skin tone on my right hand that is noticeable from close up.

Other than that I dodged a big bullet. Could have stayed looking like freddy kreuger.

I didn't get my head, but arms and legs. Had to stay in a silicone wrap of some sort for a while.

Did your skin end up looking like the below?

 

[Luke'sScreenName]

I didn't get my head, but arms and legs. Had to stay in a silicone wrap of some sort for a while.

Did your skin end up looking like the below?

View attachment 515086

That kind of pain changes most people.

 

[Coyote machine]

I had a similar experience but was not so lucky. This happened back in 2014. Needed to touch off a brush pile.

I knew Gas was not the right choice but thought I could mitigate the hazards

I normally use diesel or bar and chain oil but didn't have any. Had some 2 month old gas so spread that over the pile of branches and other yard waste, let it sit for 20 minutes for the vapors to disperse.

Unfortunately the top layer of the pile was burlap type screening you put down before mulch and it trapped the gasoline vapors in the pile. Went to light it and less than a foot away...WHUMP! Huge gasoline fireball enveloped me as I was right in front of a void in the side of the pile where vapors were trapped.

After the explosion while back pedaling I rubbed my hands all over my head rapidly to put out my hair which was on fire. Doing that also tore pieces of burnt skin off. Stopped dropped and rolled to put out my sweatshirt. Unfortunately doing that caused the burned skin to slough off my hand from the friction on the ground of rolling. Saw that the gas can was like 5-10 feet from the fire so I ran and grabbed it and moved it farther away.

Floored ATV to the house to look in the mirror. Took one look and knew this was really really ****ing bad and I would not be driving myself to the ER. Called 911, relayed situation and requested EMS for me and to roll fire to put out the brush pile so there wouldn't be an unattended fire. After 911 I put the dogs in their crates, locked the house and truck and went to wait for EMS in the driveway. Was doing tactical breathing to manage pain and keep myself from delving into shock.

Took 15 minutes for ambulance to get there, another 5 mins on scene to start an IV line and get vitals, then another 25 minute drive to the ER. This was the worst pain I have ever felt in my life.

At the ER I had to be knocked out and intubated/ventilated due to concerns about my airway, then transferred an hour away to the emergency burn unit. Incidentally, I woke up right as they started to intubate me. I was fully aware, yet paralyzed and could not breath. Not a pleasant experience

These pictures are of me after 2 days in the burn unit, with second degree burns covering almost all of my face, head and right hand. Mot of my hair was burned off, as were my eyebrows and eye lashes.

The recovery was extremely painful as I had to scrape dead burned skin off every morning. It is not worth it. Even if you have done it 99 times, the 100th may be the time it doesn't work for you.

OMG! Thanks so much for sharing your personal nightmare, I'm glad you survived, and I have no idea how you got through it. It must have been extraordinarily difficult, both the accident and the prolonged recovery. Your experience is what I keep being thankful didn't happen to me, or the even worse outcome of possible death by fire/explosion, or both. I cannot, and probably shouldn't shake from my mind what could have happened if I hadn't gotten away with the can of gas which I was holding outstretched away from where I lit the 'fuse' in my left hand.

Here's hoping your life is full of good things going forward, and you've done all the suffering you ever have to. Another Vermont person. Small world.
Thanks again for your bravery in sharing the pics, and your story.

<snip>

Thanks to the OP for starting this thread and the others that contributed their own mishaps and injuries. Hopefully someone reading this thread will learn from you and not have to suffer. You may save a life with this.

Thanks for your sharing too. I would hope for the best outcome from this thread to benefit someone, anyone who might otherwise overlook the extreme dangers of gasoline. I think from my own situation sometimes we just get complacent or inattentive to something that is so commonly used in our daily lives that we forget the real dangers gasoline presents under the right circumstances. This being used to being around gasoline allows one to think nothing of what it can do when things go wrong. And when they do go wrong there is little to no time to take corrective action(s).
I still cringe when I see people using their cell phones while pumping gas into their car/truck, etc.
I know almost all gas stations post warnings of: DO NOT use any electronics or leave your car running or unattended while pumping gas. Sometimes I still see people smoking around gas pumps and that just about drives me crazy. I have a close friend who's dad's boatyard blew up from someone throwing a lit cigarette off his boat, which caught fumes from the fueling dock.

I didn't get my head, but arms and legs. Had to stay in a silicone wrap of some sort for a while.

Did your skin end up looking like the below?

View attachment 515086

Thanks for sharing your severe burn pics too. Hope you've fully recovered from your accident too.