A friend of mine from Pennsylvania was cleaning his stove recently, when he ran into an unexpected (at least to him) set-back. It seems he was cleaning the top of his gas stove -- an older model that still used a pilot light instead of an electrical igniter -- when the isopropyl alcohol he was using as a solvent caught fire.

Any gas stove with a pilot light has a very hot spot on the top where the flame is directly underneath; even getting a hand near the spot is enough to remind you that a flame is there. Common sense would also dictate not to use highly flammable liquids in the presence of such a flame.

The above factors combined are enough, in my opinion, to garner attention from Darwin. However, our budding Darwinist did not stop there. When the alcohol caught fire, he grabbed for something to extinguish the flame before it could cause any damage. Most people keep fire extinguishers in their kitchens for that precise reason. Others keep a box of baking soda handy, as it is cheaper than a fire extinguisher and almost as effective. Instead of either of these two options, our friend chose to grab a can of aerosol duster (also known as canned air), and used that in an attempt to extinguish the fire. Like every aerosol can I have ever seen, it became an instant flame-thrower. Fortunately, he immediately stopped spraying the can when this occured, and smothered the fire by other means (he did not inform me of these means, and I neglected to ask). He was not injured this time, but I have no doubt there will be a next time as well...

Submitted on 09/13/2005

Submitted by: Mike N.
Reference: Personal Account; August 2005

Copyright © 2005 DarwinAwards.com

James said:
Neutral: Personal Account
I'm not sure he did anything monumentally stupid here (I'm sure he's cleaned his stove before under similar circumstances, and he didn't use gasoline!). Just the same, it was amusing enough for me to keep as a personal account. Such gags remind me of what goes on in cartoons...!

Jorge said:
Definitely Toss: Other

Charles said:
Neutral: Personal Account
I believe that many aerosol cans actually have non-flammable propellants. If he had grabbed one of those, he would be quite all right. I'm not sure how many people remember that isopropyl alcohol is flammable...

Greg said:
Neutral: Personal Account
Hmmmmm ... kind of amusing. I'm inclined to let the masses decide, but I feel it deserves to go to the vote as a PA.

Jack said:
Neutral: Personal Account
As a Personal Account I like this. Even if the "canned air" didn't contain a flammable propellent, it might have been under enough pressure to act as a blower in a furnace or blacksmith's forge. Yes, it's easy enough to visualize him pushing the button on the can and seeing the flames suddenly roar up!.

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