A tip o' the hat to Australian reader Snoggeramus, who informs us of today's winner.
Police say the 66-year-old woman spotted a spider on the washing machine of her Kirribilli home, on Sydney's north shore, about 1pm (AEDT) on Saturday.
She opted for insecticide and sprayed the spider which ran under the machine.
The woman pursued the spider, sprayed under the machine and it exploded.
The blast blew out the kitchen and bathroom windows and destroyed the washing machine.
Fire investigators believe the motor of the washing machine ignited the insect spray, triggering the explosion.
She's OK, apart from some minor injuries, but there's no sign of the spider . . . and the washing machine's now in an infinite-loop spin cycle!
Peter
6 comments:
Ouch... That left a mark!
It used to be that we had non-toxic, non-reactive, non-flammable propellants for such sprays.
I don't think that it has gotten through to most people that such sprays now are likely to have propane or butane as the propellant.
And I don't think that it occurs to most people that a washing machine, when running, is a big metal box with a sparking open-frame series-wound motor within.
No one would say to themselves. "Hmm, Ive got this enclosure with a a spark generator inside, I think I will spray a bottle of propane into it...
Reminds me of a cousin who sprayed his crab infested private area with Raid. Not a happy outcome (other than curing the infestation).
He shoulda use "blue ointment" instead, Well Seasoned Fool.
Annon has it right. Propellent used to be Freon, non-toxic and non-flammable. To save the earth from global warming, makers switched to propane. This as much as anything made spud guns practical (?) but makes practically everything coming from a spray can a potential bomb.
Somehow, this seems appropriate.
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