Public Service Reminder / Announcement - never use flammable solvents near open flames!
An acquaintance has several years experience of extraction. One day he was feeling very depressed and low. On the spur of the moment he decided to do the last extraction of a small flask that was in a pressure cooker pot. He always does this on a hotplate. On this occasion, he wasn't thinking at all due to distraction so he broke every common sense rule in the book and is quite frankly amazed he is still here to tell this cautionary tale.
He warmed up 100ml napatha in kitchen, turned on gas hob & started to pour napatha into flask & within a couple of seconds there was an explosion. He totally panicked and threw water on which made it worse. He threw dry towels on, and they went up in flames too. The heat was so hot it melted some kitchen equipment on other side of kitchen. It took a while to put it all out and he then had to get himself to hospital with a large flap of burnt skin flopping off the back of his hand plus deep burns all over palm and along most fingers. He told doctors he knocked over a pan of sausages in boiling hot fat.
He was referred to burns unit and told skin grafts would be necessary due to deep burns and multiple barbecued fingers. He went there many times for specialist treatment with collodial silver wraps, medical manuka honey and more. He said the waiting room was a horrible place to be with other more severely burnt people.
Photo is from 1 week after accident, he says it got worse before it finally started to heal. Somehow, miraculously, his hand totally recovered in 6 weeks with no scars. The nurse told him this is because he is healthy and has a drug free lifestyle.
The lessons he says he learnt the hard way are:
- Never never never ever ever ever use flammable solvents around flames. Vapours are enough to spark major fires.
- Have a powder fire extinguisher wherever you are doing extractions.
- If using towels to put out a fire, use wet (not dry) towels.
- Never extract when not in a good mood. 100% concentration is required.
- Got bad burns? After you are medically allowed to massage ointment in, use diprobase (eczma cream, no steroids in it) to speed recovery.
Posted Dec 11, 2020, 11:36 PM UTC