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Politics : The Environmentalist Thread -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Maurice Winn who wrote (10305)	3/11/2007 10:32:47 AM
From: carranza2	Respond to of 36918

He must have been a total idiot to chuck ethanol on a fire and get burned by it. Did he go in the Darwin Awards? Yes, he was. I was not aware of the awards when I handled the case. Otherwise, I would have nominated him for the grand prize. Now that you mention it, I never did see the can. You should have been my expert witness, the one I hired never mentioned the impossibility of an explosion. In any event, I settled he case on very favorable terms, as you might expect.

To: Maurice Winn who wrote (10305)	3/11/2007 10:36:16 AM
From: maceng2	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 36918

I have sometimes lit the BBQ with gasoline, methylated spirits (ethanol), and other solvents. I will use normal fire lighting fluid but whatever is at hand if unavailable. It's a matter of taking the extra precaution with whatever you are working with and highly NOT recommended. This includes instructing people what to do if you screw up, and having appropriate materials and equipment at hand to fight any fire that ensues. It is a very dangerous practise to someone who does not know what they are doing or unaware of the risks involved. Gasoline is the worst hazard but it does not explode, it goes "whoosh", or "wooomph" depending on how much the air is mixed in with the vapour when the ignition source is introduced. Any body part needs to be low and several feet away. It is very difficult to get any other solvent to get anywhere near as dangerous as gasoline. The fumes from any of these materials falls to the ground, the ignition trail can follow, and any accumulation of vapour will also go "wooomph". So, if the gasoline can or other container is on the ground just a few feet away it can catch fire also. If the top has been left off, and the container is not metal there could be real problems if a general fire starts. Even a cursory thought on the pain involved, and the difficulties faced on dealing with an unexpected solvent based fire should make any person very cautious of using such methods.