How to Burn Your House Down (In One Easy Lesson)

Discussion in 'General Survival and Preparedness' started by UncleMorgan, Oct 5, 2015.


  1. UncleMorgan

    UncleMorgan I like peeling bananas and (occasionally) people.

    How Did This Guy Manage to Accidentally Livestream Setting His House on Fire? | Motherboard

    There's a real survival lesson in this one.

    What did this guy do wrong? Aside from having every inch of his floor stacked with combustibles, just in case the place caught fire? And stacking a lot of tissues soaked with lighter fluid on his desk? And trying to smother a fire with cardboard boxes? And leaving the boxes in the fire when they didn't put it out?

    And leaving the fire to ....Whoops. Rewind that. Leaving the fire.
    To go get some water. A pathetically inadequate amount of water. Several times.

    Here's the thing: People underestimate how much time it takes to fill up a bucket or fetch a distant fire extinguisher. And they underestimate how fast a fire can grow when it's simply left to burn.

    He could have snuffed both of those fires in moments, while they were still small. Even after he tossed them into his cardboard box collection. In fact, he could have stomped both of them out--if he had been wearing shoes.

    His efforts to beat the fire out just fanned it into a roaring blaze.

    Just one wet towel would have done the job far better than several pans of water slung in roughly the right direction.

    Even the dry futon could have been used to smother the flames while they were small--if he hadn't used it to fan them.

    The larger a fire gets, the faster is gets even larger. Until it reaches the flashpoint--and then if you're still in the room you're on fire.

    So here's my rule of thumb: If you can't put a small fire out before it doubles in size, you can't put it out at all. If you spend the same amount of time again, still trying, it'll be four times the size it was.

    The instant a fire looks either large or out-of-control, that's when you should hustle the kids out of the house and call the fire dept.

    Toward the end of this guy's video, there was enough smoke in the air to kill him outright--if the wrong kind of fabrics or plastics had been burning. He was taking a major risk by then.

    And then everything got all fuzzy and went black. Just like in real life.
     
    Marck, chelloveck, techsar and 3 others like this.
  2. techsar

    techsar Monkey+++

    Just watching his facial expressions when he pulled the firestarter out told me he was a moron...then burning up the wick with no lighter fluid on it and again staring that same dull, idiot look, like something was supposed to happen all by itself.
    I'm surprised he hasn't killed himself and family already.
     
    Ganado likes this.
  3. Gator 45/70

    Gator 45/70 Monkey+++

    The douche is off my invite list when TSHTF...Sorry.
     
  4. Altoidfishfins

    Altoidfishfins Monkey+++ Site Supporter+

    Brilliant!

    Can you say dil-doe?
     
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  5. Brokor

    Brokor Live Free or Cry Moderator Site Supporter+++ Founding Member

    Well, that was certainly a roller coaster ride of fun to watch. I am always fearful of folks living near me for reasons just like this. Also, cigarette smoking indoors alone is a serious fire hazard, but most people just do not understand the risks. I guess it balances with the inherent health hazards, though.
     
    Gator 45/70 likes this.
  6. Ganado

    Ganado Monkey+++

    the fire wasnt his only problem all that piled up paper on his desk in his trash and all over. Clutter! and flamable clutter!
     
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  7. Altoidfishfins

    Altoidfishfins Monkey+++ Site Supporter+

    ...and then the ding-wah moved the burning trash bag right in the middle of it all...instead of clearing the flammable material away before getting his woefully inadequate amounts of water to try to put it out.

    He had opportunities to stop it or at least deprive it of fuel to limit it. It would have made a mess, but it wouldn't have burned the whole flippin' place down. LOL

    I saw this yesterday, I'm still laughing.
     
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  8. 3M-TA3

    3M-TA3 Cold Wet Monkey

    Any chance he could demonstrate fire putty next?
     
  9. NotSoSneaky

    NotSoSneaky former supporter

    [OO][eek3]NO!![shoked]biglaff
     
    Altoidfishfins likes this.
  10. Altoidfishfins

    Altoidfishfins Monkey+++ Site Supporter+

    As long as it's in an open area with nothing but him and concrete for a couple of hundred feet. Even then it might be risky.
     
  11. UncleMorgan

    UncleMorgan I like peeling bananas and (occasionally) people.

    Something I missed on the first couple of viewings: The dork tries to put the fire out with a bowl of water--a green plastic bowl. When that doesn't work, he drops the bowl in the fire--where it promptly becomes more fuel. He does the same thing with the cardboard boxes and the futon mattress.

    This guy definitely should not reproduce.
     
    Brokor and Ganado like this.
  12. natshare

    natshare Monkey+++

    I'd rate this guy right up there with the genius who tried to kill a spider with his cigarette lighter.....while gassing up his car! :rolleyes:

     
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  13. VHestin

    VHestin Farm Chick

    That's how one of our elderly neighbors next street over died, smoking in bed. People who bought her house, they said cleaning out the fire/smoke damage took a while.
     
    Brokor likes this.
  14. Legion489

    Legion489 Rev. 2:19 Banned

    What I thought was interesting was the nutter said he bought the fire starter match for eighty cents. SURVIVALIFE sells the exact same thing for $5.00 (the lighter is free, the P&H is $5) and they cost about $1.25 on the auction sites.
     
  15. kellory

    kellory An unemployed Jester, is nobody's fool. Banned

    So he can't count money right, either.
     
  16. Legion489

    Legion489 Rev. 2:19 Banned

    While he may or may not be able to count money, if you allow the exchange rate to be accurate at the time he bought it, the cost might well have been 80 cents and the price now on the auction sites reflects the current value of the dollar. Oh, and the current rip-off prices the survival stores have to ensure THEIR survival, not yours.
     
  17. PLA

    PLA Monkey++

    Thinning the herd

    Im a huge believer in herd thinning and this guy in distant times would have been food for something else. Everyone has a use, but unfortunately society allows this type to live
     
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