Siblings killed in bonfire explosion

[JDgreen227]

An 18-year old girl and her 27-year old brother were killed in a bonfire explosion in St. Clair Township (near Flint) Michigan, Saturday night when a large two-story bonfire that had been heavily soaked with gasoline by the 27 year old man who was the resident of the property, exploded upon being lit. According to the story, the girl's brother invited her to light the bonfire, which had been prepared to celebrate her graduation, and the resulting explosion scattered wood 100 yards away from the pile, and blew out windows in a structure over 100 feet away. The two died from trauma and not burns, according to the sheriff's department who investigated.

Ugh....what a tragic way to die...I might use a cupful of gasoline to start a fire but rarely more than that. Very sad.

 

[MoKelly]

Wow. Sad indeed. I refuse to light anything when gas is involved. Had some close calls in my foolish youth.

MoKelly

 

[YesDeere]

It's the vapors that get ya. I only use diesel to start my fires. Had my gas fire scare when I was young. No more

 

[brin]

It's the vapors that get ya. I only use diesel to start my fires. Had my gas fire scare when I was young. No more

You are exactly right...the vapors...fumes of gasoline are killers...never and I mean never even created a spark around gas fumes not to mention gasoline itself....I would never use gas to start a fire...lighter fluid or diesel yes...gas is wanting to get a Darwin award...

 

[NC tractor driver]

It's the vapors that get ya. I only use diesel to start my fires. Had my gas fire scare when I was young. No more

I remember my dad used to light the grill with gasoline until one day when the wind was just right and he waited a little to long to throw the match onto the charcoal. The fumes had settled around his ankles and he ended burning the hair off his lower legs. He started using starter fluid after that. I've never used gasoline because of that lesson.

 

[JDgreen227]

I did some research on Google this morning and one of the sites I visited stated that a gallon of fully vaporized gasoline (I assume it has to be fresh also) has the explosive power equal to 14 sticks of dynamite. About three years ago I had a lot of mail to burn (credit card offers, etc) so I piled about two cubic feet of the stuff on my bonfire pit, poured about a cup of gasoline on it, then stood back about 25 feet and threw a tin can containing a lit paper towel soaked with paint thinner onto the pile. WHOOOMMMMPPPP....my wife said the explosion rattled the windows in the house 120 feet away. Every since then, for fire starting I have used either old motor oil or diesel fuel.

Oh, and by the way...the fellow who lit that burn pile and was killed along with his sister was quite clearly in violation of the burning regulations in his township...locally here there is no way a burning permit would be issued for a two story pile in the middle of the summer. Anyone burning over half a cubic yard must be inspected by the fire department and given a written permit for ANY TIME OF THE YEAR. I burnt a one-story pile two years ago and they had me wait until the middle of the winter to do that when there was a foot of snow on the ground.

 

[LazySusanFarms]

My daughter goes to A&M and knows too well the dangers of "building" a fire, whether it be doused with gasoline or not.

 

[MoKelly]

My daughter goes to A&M and knows too well the dangers of "building" a fire, whether it be doused with gasoline or not.

Go SEC!!! I just had to do that as I saw you are from Kansas. Sorry.

MoKelly

 

[GGB]

That's a sad story. People just don't realize what the vapors can do. That used to include me.

Years ago, I needed to burn an old deer carcass my dogs drug home, and decided to do it in my burn barrel. Because I didn't have any old gas or charcoal lighter fluid, I had the bright idea to use paint thinner. Thankfully I had enough sense to move the paint thinner can a long way back from the burn barrel, and thought I'd be able to just light and then toss a small piece of scrap wood into the barrel without any problem. Boy, was I wrong.......still singed my eyebrows, and thankfully only got a mild "suntan". Could have turned out a lot worse. I also used to use "dead" gas for starting brush piles, but I've gotten a lot smarter since the paint thinner episode.

 

[ericher69]

Gasoline vapor is about 10 times heavier than air so...it will always find the low area. I have used gasoline to light fires (only about 1/4 cup)

The process I utilize is this;

1. Make sure you know there are no coals left
from previous fires

2. Build your burn pile of material-paper,cardboard,kindling, Gas, Fire wood

3. Use a BBQ lighter taped to a broom handle

4. Light lighter and stand upwind and approach with lighter at ground level

5. Many times the vapors will ignite from a few feet away and create a substantial flash "whoof"

A friend of mine as a kid saw his uncle using "gasoline" to light a campfire so he tried to replicate. The 2 gallon jerry can ignited as he poured because there where hot coals from the previous night.

He lost his eyebrows, most hair on arms and head and suffered second degree burns. Lucky!

The "gasoline" his uncle was using was really Kerosene.

 

[JamesHW]

My current method is to eliminate accelerants entirely and use one of those chimney style BBQ charcoal starters. I've found that leaving an alcove under the pile were you can pour the red hot coals (with a board or something for the coals to lay on) is a very reliable method for getting a pile of brush, even wet brush, going fairly quickly. I use the cowboy charcoal (for fire starting as well as cookin') since it burns hotter.

Never felt comfortable pouring gas, used motor oil or anything else out on the burn pile since we get our well water from a shallow aquifer (20 foot down or so) and we are all sand. I know it all gets burned up, but still never felt comfortable doing it, safety issues aside.

 

[JDgreen227]

About using a BBQ lighter as ericher69 suggests: I have NEVER seen a BBQ lighter that would stay lit once you let go of the trigger...you can probably tape the trigger down if you use the broom handle method, and few broom handles are more than 5 feet long. I really prefer the "stand-back-and-throw" method I outlined in post #6.

 

[aczlan]

I will use used motor oil or diesel to light a bonfire. Never get it on the ground though. I always break open a bale of junk hay, spread the flakes through the pile and pour the oil/diesel onto the flakes. They act as a wick that way and it lights off as pretty as you please.

NEVER EVERY use gas, whitegas, etc to light a fire

I also always use a propane torch rather than a lighter. Works better and is probably cheaper.

Aaron Z

 

[tcartwri]

I used some left over coleman stove fuel once, thinking it was like diesel. WRONG.

 

[ericher69]

About using a BBQ lighter as ericher69 suggests: I have NEVER seen a BBQ lighter that would stay lit once you let go of the trigger...6.

Guess you don't get much...

The safest alternative is to use no accelerants; learn how to build your fuel/burn pile so that it lights properly.

Check out this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHc4hCyx2l4&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Fast forward to 1:50 and play

 

[indianaEPH]

Wow, that is tragic.
I always use Diesel or even kindling to start fires. This is yet another example of why

 

[Maknwine]

I light fires 99% of the time without any need for fuel. A lighter and whatever brush/scrap wood I'm burning is it.

If I have any old gas or used paint thinner laying around I'd use it, but never any new diesel/gas. I'm too cheap.

 

[uglyboywith11fingers]

I'm with aczlan... i use my propane torch if I need a bit of help getting a fire going.
a few years ago, my daughter's current boyfriend was a volunteer firefighter.
he was called out to a situation where an older gent had used gasoline to start a brush fire.
they suspected maybe he dribbled some gas on his boots... when he lit the fire, his feet began to burn, he backed away quick & tripped over his 5 gallon gas can... wasn't much left of the old fella.

Pete

 

[WVUNUT1985]

very sad for those involved. I want to add that an old hay bale or tight brush lights easy when you use a lit road flare to start the fire. I have used diesel fuel and kerosene both to start brush piles on fire. You can toss a road flare a long ways and it don't go out. Just my way of keeping my distance.

 

[jomar215]

Man alive, what happened to some birch bark, a few twigs, 20 minutes longer, and no boom? Am I the only guy left in the world who'll just build a fire??

I once had a vw jetta sized brush pile with a bit of a hidden layer of old spruce bows. The pile went up so fast that I almost couldn't get away from it fast enough. I couldn't imagine if it had been soaked in gasoline or was 2 stories high!