Fire!We were all in my aunt's kitchen at the back of her huge rambling Victorian house. I was only small and had wandered off to go to the loo, but given up after finding the hall full of smoke. "That was quick," my mum said after a few minutes. "Yes - it's all smoky," I replied.
I've never seen adults move so fast.
So, like my cousin who'd managed to set fire to the roof, tell us your fire stories.
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chthonic, Thu 3 Nov 2005, 9:11)
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I'd cleaned some paint brushes...... and noticed the white spirit said you're not supposed to tip it down the drain, nor put it in the wheelie bin.
I couldn't figure out how you were supposed to get rid of it, but noticed that the paint also claimed to be flammable. Looks like a solution, I thought.
Turns out it's a bitch to get it started - the matches I dropped in just went out. After struggling for ages, I managed to get a kind of wick thing working.
Trouble was, as the wick burnt, it was also gradually heating the can of liquid. As it got warmer it gave off more fumes, which eventually ignited.
The whole top surface was now alight, which had been the intention in the first place. Trouble was, there was quite a small top surface area so it wasn't burning very fast. It was still getting hotter though. After a bit it reached boiling point.
Blimey! Evaporated white-spirit-and-gloss-paint fumes go up like crazy - especially when the liquid boils over the top of the container. Great clouds of black smoke and a raging furnace between me and the bag of sand I'd kept handy just in case. Don't do it, kids.
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teedyay, Thu 3 Nov 2005, 15:22,
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