Freak Explosion Kills Graduate

**Gannon** · August-19-12, 09:17 PM

I don't know what to make of this story.

I knew gasoline fumes could cause a fireball, but thought they had to be contained to actually explode enough to cause impact damage. That must've been a lot of gasoline.

How crazy is this story...building a bonfire for the celebratory party...and the world is less two Blewetts.

Tragic.

**Jimaz** · August-19-12, 09:37 PM

Ironic name, Blewett.

**rb336** · August-20-12, 08:27 AM

I can't see gasoline doing that in an open-air situation. I wonder what all was piled in the bonfire. an aerosol can could certainly do that, as could creosote-treated wood

**Crystal** · August-20-12, 09:21 AM

My condolences to the family. However, I wouldn't call the explosion a freak accident. To use gasoline to ignite a fire was incredibly reckless.

**kenp** · August-20-12, 10:05 AM

Originally Posted by rb336

I can't see gasoline doing that in an open-air situation. I wonder what all was piled in the bonfire. an aerosol can could certainly do that, as could creosote-treated wood

I recall a few times back in the day when we burned trash. A couple of times somebody put an aerosal can in the trash. It does explode but nothing like the reported incident at the bonfire.
It probably was a big pile of wood and gas fumes locked in the pile. Still seems like an awful big explosion for gas
Condolences to the family and friends

**Meddle** · August-20-12, 11:56 AM

Originally Posted by rb336

I can't see gasoline doing that in an open-air situation.

Try it sometime. Let us know where to ship your ashes.

**rb336** · August-20-12, 03:01 PM

We used to set up bonfires all the time -- using gas or kerosene to get them going. never had one blow up. watched an idiot start a fire with an old railroad tie and watched it explode. luckily, it was on a beach, very close to the lake

**Patrick** · August-20-12, 03:43 PM

Was there an oxygen tank hidden in the pile somewhere?

**rb336** · August-20-12, 04:54 PM

i'd put money on an aerosol can

**Johnnny5** · August-20-12, 05:54 PM

One of the articles I read mentioned that windows were blown out in the nearby home and wood was thrown over 100 yards! It also stated that the fire exploded when lit, so most likely the gasoline vapors still in the air were the culprit. Something like a hidden compressed fuel canister would have taken a while to explode.

**Meddle** · August-20-12, 05:57 PM

i'd put money on an aerosol can

I doubt it. I've seen films of it happening.

Vapors are heavier than air and will sink to the ground. If the humidity is high enough and the air is dense enough, it will act to 'compress' the vapors so to speak. Depending on the amount of time the vapors are allowed to accumulate, they can easily become explosive.

Kerosene is far safer to use on brush piles and bonfires since it doesn't vaporize as fast.

**jcole** · August-20-12, 07:10 PM

Way back when I worked in a hospital, three young men that worked at a local gas station decided to weld a gas tank. They made two mistakes:
1) Welding the previously used tank when it was empty of everything but fumes
2) Doing it in the closed garage
When the welding torch hit the fumes it blew the tank and the three young men out the closed doors of that station, not to mention blowing the roof off.
Fire and fumes are a big no.
They were brought to the hospital I worked in.
Two of the three men died later and in a great deal of pain. The other one was taken to Ann Arbor.

**rb336** · August-20-12, 09:13 PM

Originally Posted by Meddle

I doubt it. I've seen films of it happening.

Vapors are heavier than air and will sink to the ground. If the humidity is high enough and the air is dense enough, it will act to 'compress' the vapors so to speak. Depending on the amount of time the vapors are allowed to accumulate, they can easily become explosive.

Kerosene is far safer to use on brush piles and bonfires since it doesn't vaporize as fast.

not a high-humidity day Saturday. It was also rather breezy. Perhaps they set it up with large plank-like pieces of wood at the base, which would turn it into a combustion chamber if it blocked the fumes from escaping

**jcole** · August-20-12, 10:17 PM

Originally Posted by rb336

not a high-humidity day Saturday. It was also rather breezy. Perhaps they set it up with large plank-like pieces of wood at the base, which would turn it into a combustion chamber if it blocked the fumes from escaping

The news article about the explosion says they had built a large "house-like" structure and doused it with a considerable amount of gasoline, leaving a trail of gasoline as a 'fuse'

**Gannon** · August-21-12, 12:37 AM

Originally Posted by jcole

The news article about the explosion says they had built a large "house-like" structure and doused it with a considerable amount of gasoline, leaving a trail of gasoline as a 'fuse'

These pictures don't show the remnants of a big explosion...and the folks they talk with seem to show a big fireball. Both are holding their hands above their heads...which they might be able to do explaining a fireball, but an explosion which would break windows would be quite another thing entirely. Nobody would be talking the size of the flame.

So, I'm betting they inhaled fire...there are no good ways to die, but that would be simply horrible. I remember getting internally singed from a small fireball out of my ex's fireplace in Redondo Beach...the first match broke, and she asked a question before I could strike the second. The healing was miserable.

Fact they were using pallets to build their blowup house also adds to the mystery...there might be other chemicals involved, or some prank gone horribly wrong.

**jcole** · August-21-12, 06:34 AM

They were already autopsied and were killed by blunt force trauma from the explosion and the debris they were hit with.

Two siblings who died in a bonfire explosion Saturday night in St. Clair County were killed by blunt traumatic injuries from the explosion and resulting debris, according to Dr. Daniel Spitz, the St. Clair County medical examiner.

Authorities said Christopher had splashed gasoline on the large wooden structure built for the occasion and asked his sister to light it.
The blast knocked out nearby windows and sent three other people to the hospital, one with a bad head laceration, according to St. Clair County Sheriff's Deputy Steve Campau. Their conditions were unavailable Monday.

http://www.freep.com/article/2012082...-examiner-says