Firefighters responded to an explosion at a house in Mosgiel, New Zealand. The explosion was so forceful that it shot a candle from the home into a car across the street -- smashing it through its window. The cause: two teens were "huffing" propane gas from two 20-lb. pressurized cylinders, investigators say. The two were using so much propane that the concentration of gas built up, and was ignited by a gas heater, causing the explosion. In addition to creating a huge fireball, the explosion knocked over the gas heater, "pumping out a huge fire in that room," a fire department commander said. "Their clothing were so impregnated with LPG that when the explosion happened it blew the soles of their shoes off, their clothing burst into flames, and skin and tissue was spread on all four walls and the ceiling in that room." Brendon McLeod, 17, and Jamie Jury, 18, were hospitalized in critical condition with burns on up to 60 percent of their bodies -- but both are expected to survive. (RC/Otago Daily Times)
- posted
11 years ago