"Shed Ignites as Bees Doused"
Place brain in gear before placing body in motion!
The following article in today's issue of the (Mobile) Press Register shows that Safety at Home is as important as On the Job Safety. Also, it shows ignorance of the value to the environment that bees play. This is truly a Donkey incident!
"Home suffers extensive damage as man uses gasoline on infestation." Written by Robert McClendon, Staff Reporter.
Twenty-six-year-old Joshua Mullen meant to kill the bees infesting the utility shed Wednesday, but he ended up causing a small explosion, burning the shed to cinders and causing about $80,000 in damage to his (rented) Midtown home, according to fire officials.
"There were no injuries unless you count the bees," said Mobile Fire-Rescue spokesman Steve Huffman.
Mullen said that, in an attempt to rid his utility shed of bees, he dumped about a dringking-glass-size amount of gasoline onsome towels the bees were swarming around. He walked away to pick up some trash in the yard and heard a "whoosh."
When he turned around, he said, the shed was in flames.
Huffman said the fire probably started when the pilot light of a hot-water heater in the shed ignited the fumes from the gas.
Firefithters quickly arrived at the one-story Farnell Lane house off Pleasant Valley Road, Mullen said, and extinguished the flames.
Although the fire only burned for a short time, it did heavy damage to the side of the house and filled the interior with smoke and soot. Mullen is renting the home; his residence in Biloxi was destroyed during Hurricand Katrina.
Mullen's fincee' and 1-year-old daughter were inside the house when the fire started, but, Mullen said, he got them out before the fire had spread.
A neighboring house, whick is vacant and up for sale, went mostly undamged, but the blaze burned hot enough to melt some plastic blinds through a closed window.
A mechanic by training, Mullen said he has been educated on gasoline flash points and flammability and he didn't expect the unleaded gasoline to put off enough fumes to catch fire.
"I just can't see how the fumes concentrated enough to catch fire, he said.
Despite the fire, a few surviving bees continued to buzz around the ashes of the ruined shed Wednesday afternoon.
"Looking at all this, there might have been a better way," Mullen said, surveying the damage. "It was a mistake. I wish i hadn't done it. but I did."
It is amazing how quickly something that you have been schooled in the safety aspects of being around flammable items can prove tragic simply because your brain is not in gear, especially around the house.
There was another article in the same paper referring to the lack of bees to pollinate all types of plant life. There are Beekeepers around all larger populated areas that will come to your home and collect the bees for you.
Place brain in gear before placing body in motion!
The following article in today's issue of the (Mobile) Press Register shows that Safety at Home is as important as On the Job Safety. Also, it shows ignorance of the value to the environment that bees play. This is truly a Donkey incident!
"Home suffers extensive damage as man uses gasoline on infestation." Written by Robert McClendon, Staff Reporter.
Twenty-six-year-old Joshua Mullen meant to kill the bees infesting the utility shed Wednesday, but he ended up causing a small explosion, burning the shed to cinders and causing about $80,000 in damage to his (rented) Midtown home, according to fire officials.
"There were no injuries unless you count the bees," said Mobile Fire-Rescue spokesman Steve Huffman.
Mullen said that, in an attempt to rid his utility shed of bees, he dumped about a dringking-glass-size amount of gasoline onsome towels the bees were swarming around. He walked away to pick up some trash in the yard and heard a "whoosh."
When he turned around, he said, the shed was in flames.
Huffman said the fire probably started when the pilot light of a hot-water heater in the shed ignited the fumes from the gas.
Firefithters quickly arrived at the one-story Farnell Lane house off Pleasant Valley Road, Mullen said, and extinguished the flames.
Although the fire only burned for a short time, it did heavy damage to the side of the house and filled the interior with smoke and soot. Mullen is renting the home; his residence in Biloxi was destroyed during Hurricand Katrina.
Mullen's fincee' and 1-year-old daughter were inside the house when the fire started, but, Mullen said, he got them out before the fire had spread.
A neighboring house, whick is vacant and up for sale, went mostly undamged, but the blaze burned hot enough to melt some plastic blinds through a closed window.
A mechanic by training, Mullen said he has been educated on gasoline flash points and flammability and he didn't expect the unleaded gasoline to put off enough fumes to catch fire.
"I just can't see how the fumes concentrated enough to catch fire, he said.
Despite the fire, a few surviving bees continued to buzz around the ashes of the ruined shed Wednesday afternoon.
"Looking at all this, there might have been a better way," Mullen said, surveying the damage. "It was a mistake. I wish i hadn't done it. but I did."
It is amazing how quickly something that you have been schooled in the safety aspects of being around flammable items can prove tragic simply because your brain is not in gear, especially around the house.
There was another article in the same paper referring to the lack of bees to pollinate all types of plant life. There are Beekeepers around all larger populated areas that will come to your home and collect the bees for you.
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