Not a very successful repair

If any readers use an airbed, they might like to learn from the actions of a German man.

A German who tried to fix his leaky air mattress blew up his apartment instead, the fire brigade in the western city of Duesseldorf said Wednesday.

The 45-year-old man used tire repair solvent to plug a hole in his airbed and left it overnight.

But it blew up when he went to inflate it the next day. "A spark from the electric air pump ignited it," a fire brigade spokesman said.

The blast pushed his living room wall into the building's stairwell and caused extensive damage to walls, windows and furniture.

Fire fighters evacuated the 12-apartment building and a neighboring housing block while they checked for structural damage.

The man suffered burns on his arms, while a three-year-old girl suffered first degree burns.

Yep . . . tire repair solvent is pretty flammable stuff. Combine it with air under pressure, containing the fumes it's given off all night, and you have an interesting result!

Peter