UP IN SMOKE
Exploding washing machines, air freshener disaster, and a tree that burnt from inside out
A driver caused an explosion in his car after lighting a cigarette which ignited air freshener he had earlier sprayed in “excessive” amounts, according to firefighters. Gas from the aerosol spray ignited, blew out the windscreen and windows, and buckled the doors. The motorist, stuck in traffic in Halifax, West Yorkshire, escaped with minor injuries. The explosion was so powerful it caused damage to the windows of nearby businesses. Similar accidents occurred to two separate motorists, in Southend, Essex, and Conisborough, West Yorkshire, both in the same week of August 2017. BBC News, 7 Sept 2017; 16 Dec 2018.
Meanwhile, there is increasing concern about exploding ovens in the UK. A mother of two was left shocked after her oven blew up during self-cleaning mode, showering her kitchen with broken glass. The oven is manufactured by Whirlpool but sold under the Ikea name. More recently, a Leicestershire woman, using the same model and the same
He had esprayed air freshener in “excessive” amounts
cleaning function, saw 400°C (752°F) glass from the shattered oven fly across her kitchen. A newspaper investigation claims over 70 ovens of various major brands have exploded in recent years, including a Whirlpool that detonated “like a bomb”. The self-clean function heats the oven to 500°C (932°F) in order to burn food residue and grease to ashes.
The Whirlpool manufacturer has been criticised by MPs for issuing gagging orders to silence victims of its faulty tumble driers, around 750 of which have caused household fires over the last 15 years. D.Mail, 30 Nov 2019.
During a thunderstorm over Trinity, Texas, a tree was struck by lightning and caught fire, the flames billowing out from inside the trunk. The spectacle was filmed by 44-year-old local businessman Glenn Ratcliff, who uploaded it to social media, where it quickly reached over one million views. Mr Ratcliff said “We had no wind that day and fortunately no trees around it caught fire. Times, 23 Oct 2019.