As some of you may know, my FPHE failed, several weeks later my circulatory pump failed. I received replacements a few days later, and a few days after that I installed my replacement pump. After I installed the pump I back flushed the system using a garden hose. After I was confident the loop was free of air I started the pump up and put in new water treatment, topped the tank off. After I checked and found everything in good order I asked my oldest daughter to bring me a couple of walmart sacks full of paper/burnable garbage. We live 20 miles from civilization, way out from town, no garbage pick, and the landfill is almost 40 miles away. Thusly we find ourselves burning most of our refuse in a 55gal drum. It just so happened that the bulk of our refuse had just been burned off an hour or so before I asked my daughter to help. She enlisted her mother to help her gather enough waste to rekindle the fire in the furnace. She brought me a couple cardboard boxes some old mail and one walmart sack of what appeared to be mostly paper and packaging. A little worried it wouldn't be enough I threw it in and lit it off and shut the door. After a couple minutes passed I decided to open the door and see if I had a sustainable fire.
No sooner than I opened the door an explosion occurred and something hit me hard enough to knock me down. I found myself face down in the gravel trying to figure out what had happened. Shortly afterwards I realized I couldn't see, and was bleeding profusely from my head. I managed to get inside, and get my wife to take me to the ER. After arriving at the local er, they transported me via ambulance to the trauma center in Memphis TN.
There I learned I had torn my cornea, had a corneal hematoma, and may or may not see again in my right eye. Several doctors later they sent me home. Curiosity got the best of me and I decided I was going to find what had hit me. After a few minutes of looking around I found the burnt aluminum base of a conventional or possibly a CFL style light bulb. It was laying about 5 feet from where my glasses were still laying, and was the only foreign debris within 100 feet of the furnace door. It even had a clean little indention in the side of the threads that could not have been there before it was used and disposed. It sounds unlikely, but it's the only scenario that fits. The bulb was in the trash, it got good and hot building up enough pressure to blow the end off sending it straight into the right side of my face. I now am out of work, have huge medical bills on the way, and have to visit the ophthalmology surgeon daily until the pressure has subsided, and my vision improves. Right now, my left eye is fine, but my right eye is only capable of resolving lights, and the occasional color.
An hour ago made it exactly a week since this has happened. And as of yet. my vision has NOT improved.
Moral of the story, don't burn garbage in your furnace. or if you can avoid it. don't burn it at all.
No sooner than I opened the door an explosion occurred and something hit me hard enough to knock me down. I found myself face down in the gravel trying to figure out what had happened. Shortly afterwards I realized I couldn't see, and was bleeding profusely from my head. I managed to get inside, and get my wife to take me to the ER. After arriving at the local er, they transported me via ambulance to the trauma center in Memphis TN.
There I learned I had torn my cornea, had a corneal hematoma, and may or may not see again in my right eye. Several doctors later they sent me home. Curiosity got the best of me and I decided I was going to find what had hit me. After a few minutes of looking around I found the burnt aluminum base of a conventional or possibly a CFL style light bulb. It was laying about 5 feet from where my glasses were still laying, and was the only foreign debris within 100 feet of the furnace door. It even had a clean little indention in the side of the threads that could not have been there before it was used and disposed. It sounds unlikely, but it's the only scenario that fits. The bulb was in the trash, it got good and hot building up enough pressure to blow the end off sending it straight into the right side of my face. I now am out of work, have huge medical bills on the way, and have to visit the ophthalmology surgeon daily until the pressure has subsided, and my vision improves. Right now, my left eye is fine, but my right eye is only capable of resolving lights, and the occasional color.
An hour ago made it exactly a week since this has happened. And as of yet. my vision has NOT improved.
Moral of the story, don't burn garbage in your furnace. or if you can avoid it. don't burn it at all.
