Woman Burned While Trying To Light Pellet Stove

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gbreda

gbreda

Minister of Fire
Aug 3, 2009
1,255
Lakes Region, NH
WMUR-Channel 9 reported that a woman was burned while lighting a pellet stove in Newmarket, NH on Thursday night. Not much mentioned except that she was "blown" from the stove and had to be flown to a Boston hospital for burns.

Not much on what actually happened or what stove it is, but they referred to being blown from the stove. Sounds like she either used wrong starting fluid (gas) or maybe opened the door on an auto ignite just before pellets lit. Either way, the door must have been open or unlatched, they did not mention anything like glass blowing out.
 
The Media loves to throw huge amounts of SPIN on things.

"While Lighting" This is the Key word, meaning that she was lighting the fire.

Blown ????? A pellet stove can't generate enough energy even with a little POOOOF to BLOW someone away from the stove.

If the door was open there could be no accumulation of gases to even go POOF.

I light my stoves all the time and do so with a Propane torch.

I flip on the exhaust blower, light the pellets, then once they are burning well, close the door and its over.

I have never even had my fingers sindged do this.


What is possible is that this woman was/had used some volatile fluid such as gasoline or ???? to soak the pellets then lit it off and got a flash fire.

There is something that is not being revealed here.

If you can dig up more info, it would be great.

Snowy
 
Snowy,

If a highly volatile fluid was used there can be enough vapor generated in a very short time, and this will be somewhat confined, so if enough time elapsed between putting the starter on the fuel in the stove and the entry of an open flame you can get a fairly good rapid and forceful ignition of the vapor.

The only thing is there is likely no detailed information available to determine what was actually done.

Typical no information reporting with editor worded titles for maximum eye candy impact just makes it unbelievable.
 
I'm betting a little too much unapproved juice was the main cause of POOF!
 

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Yeah, I figured the added extra juice to a manual light as well. It was a quick story on the news, havn't found any print article.

Edit: here is a short one from wmur.com.

http://www.wmur.com/newsarchive/27634909/detail.html

Bottom line is that they most likely something incorrectly and paid a good price as they needed to be airlifted to Boston.

Safety is first with these stoves, but I'm sure that most everyone here has taken that "quick little risk" or modified/jumped a safety switch here or there at one point or another. I'm more than carefull, but I'm not perfect either.
 
j-takeman said:
I'm betting a little too much unapproved juice was the main cause of POOF!
Click to expand...
Jay, Did that photo really accompany the article? :bug: Seriously a half pint of white gas can scare the beer out of the hands of men several feet away (camping trip experience)! I suspect similar cause.
 
Boom said:
j-takeman said:
I'm betting a little too much unapproved juice was the main cause of POOF!
Click to expand...
Jay, Did that photo really accompany the article? :bug: Seriously a half pint of white gas can scare the beer out of the hands of men several feet away (camping trip experience)! I suspect similar cause.
Click to expand...

No, I probably should not have posted the picture. But it gets the point across with using stuff your not supposed to use.

I seen a few peeps get knocked on there can lighting bon-fires with gasoline. An I felt the shock wave some 50 feet away. I never liked the smell of burnt hair or flesh very much!
 
Print article in the union leader.

http://www.unionleader.com/article....rticleId=a75e0dfa-2cbb-428d-855b-f2723c83cd0a


By CLYNTON NAMUO
Union Leader Correspondent
5 hours, 46 minutes ago

NEWMARKET – A 66-year-old woman was severely burned Thursday night after her clothes caught fire as she tried to light a pellet stove, fire Chief Rick Malasky said.

"She had 25 to 30 percent second- and third-degree burns to her upper and lower extremities," Malasky said, adding, "She was conscious on our arrival, but I would say she has pretty serious burns and we consider them life threatening."

The woman, whose name Malasky did not know, was taken from her home at 32 Briallia Circle to Exeter Hospital and immediately transferred via helicopter to Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.

Property records show the homeowners there are Charles and Susan Heckscher.

A woman who answered the phone at the Heckscher's home Friday morning confirmed that Susan was burned, but declined to comment further. Susan Heckscher was listed in critical condition at Brigham and Women's.

Firefighters responded to the Heckscher's home around 10 p.m. Thursday and doused what remained of the fire.

Malasky said the woman was using a flammable gel to light her pellet stove when her clothes caught fire. It's possible the gel got on her and exacerbated the burns, Malasky said.

The woman's husband used a pot of water to douse the flames on her. The fire also spread to a sofa and carpet and he doused most of that as well, Malasky said.

Malasky said the husband and wife were home with a couple of friends when the fire broke out.

He said fire marshal's office is investigating, but so far it appears to be a "freak accident."

"It was definitely just an accident," Malasky said. "By no means did she intentionally set herself on fire."

He also praised those there for acting quickly.

"Thank god her husband was home and there were other people in the residence," Malasky said.
 
Boom said:
j-takeman said:
I'm betting a little too much unapproved juice was the main cause of POOF!
Click to expand...
Jay, Did that photo really accompany the article? :bug: Seriously a half pint of white gas can scare the beer out of the hands of men several feet away (camping trip experience)! I suspect similar cause.
Click to expand...

FYI, 'white gas' is no longer what we old folks used to call the stuff for Coleman stoves. It is now naphtha, which certainly doesn't help.
Smokey said what I was going to say. Pour in the gas or what ever and then go looking for matches. Finally come back and strike the match.......... POOF!

I once (should not be admitting this) had a huge pile of leaves that I wanted to burn. Got the kerosene can and wet down the leaves. My matches were in my pocket and all wet from sweat so I had to find another pack. Now two things compounded the problem. First, the kerosene can, plainly marked, had been refilled with gasoline without my knowledge. Then the gas sat in the pile for 5 minutes or more. I lit the match and hardly got it out of my hand before I had the eruption!!!!! It banged so loudly that it echoed off of the hills. Burning leaves went higher than my house and came down in the woods, setting a bunch of small fires. I was lucky as hell!!!! Although the neighbors still laugh at me when I am raking leaves. They come out with ear muffs on...... :red:
 
I hate to be the bearer of the truth in the pellet stove fiasco, but you can't fix stupid.
Why oh why do people keep trying out for Darwin Award nominations?
 
tjnamtiw said:
Boom said:
j-takeman said:
I'm betting a little too much unapproved juice was the main cause of POOF!
Click to expand...
Jay, Did that photo really accompany the article? :bug: Seriously a half pint of white gas can scare the beer out of the hands of men several feet away (camping trip experience)! I suspect similar cause.
Click to expand...

FYI, 'white gas' is no longer what we old folks used to call the stuff for Coleman stoves. It is now naphtha, which certainly doesn't help.
Smokey said what I was going to say. Pour in the gas or what ever and then go looking for matches. Finally come back and strike the match.......... POOF!

I once (should not be admitting this) had a huge pile of leaves that I wanted to burn. Got the kerosene can and wet down the leaves. My matches were in my pocket and all wet from sweat so I had to find another pack. Now two things compounded the problem. First, the kerosene can, plainly marked, had been refilled with gasoline without my knowledge. Then the gas sat in the pile for 5 minutes or more. I lit the match and hardly got it out of my hand before I had the eruption!!!!! It banged so loudly that it echoed off of the hills. Burning leaves went higher than my house and came down in the woods, setting a bunch of small fires. I was lucky as hell!!!! Although the neighbors still laugh at me when I am raking leaves. They come out with ear muffs on...... :red:
Click to expand...

Now that was a funny story....especially love the echoes for the of the blast off the surounding hills.
So how much gasoline did you pour onto those leafs?
I learned a healthy repect for gasoline when I was 12 camping in Colorado with my father....had a slowly smouldering camp fire...and my father handed me about 16 oz of gasoline in a cup and told me to pour it on the fire...i took years for my eyebrows to grow back...
 
I had fire out back one night and my friends decided to put in my full bottle of starting gel and it did not go poof or boom, bottle just melted and gel burned up nothing major.
 
Like the eyebrow story! I remember as a kid we used to burn our trash in a wire mesh burn 'barrel'. I got the idea to throw one of my mom's hair spray cans in there to see 'what would happen'. Of course, it went 'BOOM' and I heard and felt what I assume was the bottom whistling past my ear! Very close! (What's the last thing a Red Neck says? 'What this, Boys')

We also used to throw pieces of shale into the campfire when camping. They blow up and go flying in all directions as the water between the layers flashes to steam. Man, did we do stupid things as kids AND somehow, we survived!
 
Wow, people like that should not be anywhere near fire. Must of ran out of starting gel and decided to try a little gasoline! It is unfortunate but lighting a pellet stove takes a little bit of common sense.
 
Hello

Woman Burned While Trying To Light Pellet Stove.

News 9
http://www.wmur.com/news/27634909/detail.html

Union Leader
http://www.unionleader.com/article....rticleId=a75e0dfa-2cbb-428d-855b-f2723c83cd0a

NEWMARKET – A 66-year-old woman was severely burned Thursday night after her clothes caught fire as she tried to light a pellet stove, fire Chief Rick Malasky said.

"She had 25 to 30 percent second- and third-degree burns to her upper and lower extremities," Malasky said, adding, "She was conscious on our arrival, but I would say she has pretty serious burns and we consider them life threatening."

The woman, whose name Malasky did not know, was taken from her home at 32 Briallia Circle to Exeter Hospital and immediately transferred via helicopter to Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.

Property records show the homeowners there are Charles and Susan Heckscher.

A woman who answered the phone at the Heckscher's home Friday morning confirmed that Susan was burned, but declined to comment further. Susan Heckscher was listed in critical condition at Brigham and Women's.

Firefighters responded to the Heckscher's home around 10 p.m. Thursday and doused what remained of the fire.

Malasky said the woman was using a flammable gel to light her pellet stove when her clothes caught fire. It's possible the gel got on her and exacerbated the burns, Malasky said.

The woman's husband used a pot of water to douse the flames on her. The fire also spread to a sofa and carpet and he doused most of that as well, Malasky said.

Malasky said the husband and wife were home with a couple of friends when the fire broke out.

He said fire marshal's office is investigating, but so far it appears to be a "freak accident."

"It was definitely just an accident," Malasky said. "By no means did she intentionally set herself on fire."

He also praised those there for acting quickly.

"Thank god her husband was home and there were other people in the residence," Malasky said.
 
Just FYI, there is already a post about this. There is some comments about it on the other post if you are interested. But I think for this type of thing to happen, she must have tried to squirt more gel on the pellets that probably had some hot embers and the fire followed the stream of gel to the bottle she was holding. This is why I dont like the starter gel. I always use fire flakes. It is a very unfortunate accident.
 
j-takeman said:
Boom said:
j-takeman said:
I seen a few peeps get knocked on there can lighting bon-fires with gasoline. An I felt the shock wave some 50 feet away. I never liked the smell of burnt hair or flesh very much!
Click to expand...

Oh boy, been there, done that, never again. That damn gasoline better be lit while it's still a liquid or whooosh! and everything get's singed. Reminds me of the MOAB which is the 2nd most powerful bomb in the world, relying on dispersing aerosolized fuel which then gets detonated. Massive ____ Air Burst weapon.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
arnash said:
Oh boy, been there, done that, never again. That damn gasoline better be lit while it's still a liquid or whooosh! and everything get's singed. Reminds me of the MOAB which is the 2nd most powerful bomb in the world, relying on dispersing aerosolized fuel which then gets detonated. Massive ____ Air Burst weapon.
Click to expand...

The GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb (MOAB) (colloquially known as the Mother of All Bombs)

As Jamie and Adam(myth busters) would say "Big Boom" :)
 

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CJ-SR4ever said:
Just FYI, there is already a post about this. There is some comments about it on the other post if you are interested. But I think for this type of thing to happen, she must have tried to squirt more gel on the pellets that probably had some hot embers and the fire followed the stream of gel to the bottle she was holding. This is why I dont like the starter gel. I always use fire flakes. It is a very unfortunate accident.
Click to expand...



Yep that's what happened.

"The container of starter gel ignited and splattered all over her, lighting herself on fire, along with some furniture and carpet in the living room," http://www.seacoastonline.com
 
I think I recall once hearing that the Russians detonated the biggest non-nuclear bomb in history and it was a MOAB type. Don't remember anything more, like the kilotonage. A MOAB was used in that Dustin Hoffman movie about a town infected with a deadly plague and the government sent a MOAB to destroy the town, which was saved by a cure and the bomb was detonated over the ocean. Haven't seen any use of it in any movie since. I'd love to see a great demonstration of a small one at a 4th of July Fireworks show. Man, that would be unforgettable, and wouldn't have to cost a lot if it was "homemade". -couldn't have any windows any where near.
 
It seems to me that the alcohol used in starter gel must be as flammable (or more) as gasoline. It is a very volatile aromatic compound and squirting it is like squirting gasoline, only in a smaller quantity. You can smell it in the air as it evaporates quickly. I wonder if there's any warning on the label? Lamp oil is so much safer, you can squirt it onto a fire and doesn't evaporate into an explosive gas. It just strengthens the fire.
 
There's something more to this story, you just dont get gel all over yourself, I used gel for 12+ yr's I even squirt it on the burning pellet's when the flame is burning low ready to blow out before they get going, pretty slow burning stuff.
 
Maybe she ran out of gel and poured some gasoline into the container. That would produce a disaster. I heard about a woman on the news who was pumping gas into a container on the seat of her car and couldn't tell how full it was, so to get some light to shine into the container she lit her cigarette lighter near the can opening. (!!!) KAABOOOOOM!! People just don't realize how volatile gas is.
 
Ive heard of folks who try and "perk up" an already lit fire or a "going out" fire (which is just embers), with pellet gel......then watch the fire go up the stream of gel, into the can, which they immediately throw in any direction, to get it out of their hands at the time....could be on the couch, the chair, the carpet, the cat, etc.....
 
Lousyweather said:
Ive heard of folks who try and "perk up" an already lit fire 9or a "going out" fire which is just embers), with pellet gel......then watch the fire go up the stream of gel, into the can, which they immediately throw in any direction, to get it out of their hands at the time....could be on the couch, the chair, the carpet, the cat, etc.....
Click to expand...

I am guilty of that with my charcoal grille. Hit it again sam and woof! Even if your ready for it it will scare the beans out of you! I've tossed a can or 2 of the lighter fluid as well.
 
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