AUGUSTA, Maine — The state fire marshal’s office reports that an Augusta man was seriously burned Saturday morning after using gasoline to ignite a fire in the wood stove in his home on Outer Civic Center Drive.
Michael O’Leary, 38, is being treated at Maine Medical Center in Portland, according to a statement issued by Maine Department of Public Safety spokesman Stephen McCausland. O’Leary’s wife, Amanda O’Leary, 36, was treated for smoke inhalation at MaineGeneral in Augusta and released, according to police.
The family’s dog perished in the fire, McCausland reported.
The ranch-style home near the Augusta-Belgrade line sustained serious damage from smoke and heat, McCausland reported.
The fire marshal’s office is advising wood stove owners never to use any flammable liquid in igniting a fire.
“Homeowners should never use a flammable liquid to start a wood stove fire because the vapors are explosive and cause a fireball,” state Fire Marshal Joe Thomas said. “Only paper and kindling should be used to start a wood stove.”
Duh!
It seems that at least once a year someone is seriously hurt this way.
Paper is good for starting fires.
I enjoy using Obama and Angus campaign propaganda
for that purpose.
Best post!
I use it for something else, although it’s a bit rough.
IDIOTS
Probably their first woodstove. For, after heating only with wood for always, never had an oil stove, furnace, never, I am in dis-belief anyone can be that stupid, but, maybe they just do not know, maybe they have not been around brush fires, campfires, burning blueberry ground and stuff, I do realize the generation gap, and many have missed some Maine lessons on stuff I take for granted, talking to some younger people, I said I was building a jury rigg, to fix a snow-blower, a jury rigg, what’s that??
2 pounds more than a hen-weigh.
This would be, Bangor Daily News, a good time to run an article about burning wood as many people today have never or have had very little experience with wood stoves or fireplaces.
RRemind me.again….how.long has man had fire?
Longer than we have had gasoline.
I use it for something else, although it’s a bit rough.
I remember back when I was a teenager a friend of mine poured an entire 5 gallons of gasoline on a brush pile we were going to burn. We stood back about 100 feet and threw a lit stick into the brush pile and it exploded into a very impressive mushroom cloud. I gained a lot of respect for gasoline that day.
It’s very sad, but it appears there is no cure for stupidity. Lets hope he doesn’t have a generator in his basement.
Hey, watch this!
I can’t believe some of the posts on here!! Yes, this man made a very stupid and careless decision. But some of the posts……wanting state aid…..dumb behinds……goober….hey, watch this. Where are we…..elementary school??
Here we go again. I mean it,there should be a license to have a wood stove.
One should have to go to a safety class [2 or 3 hours? ] and pass a test, in order to have a license to use a wood stove in a hour
You laugh, but start counting now, how many wood stove house fires there will be this winter.
Why just stop at wood stove operation? Maybe one should also have to go to a class before wiping one’s r e c t u m. How about a class before posting comments to make sure that all comments reflect a reverence for the nanny state?
No nanny state means no red cross, no welfare benefits, no food, no WIC,no money to raise the 200 illegitimate babies born every day in this state ,no college grants,no emergency programs for people who irresponsible burn down their homes.
No nanny state means about 800,000 people and children and babies in this state would be tossed out of nanny subsisted housing, cold and hungry, into streets to live.
You sure this state hates a nanny state?
Thank you for making my case for me.
Did you make those stats up yourself, or did you have help?
800000 was a guesstimate. well over 33% of the state collects welfare/food stamps. That was believed about 7 years ago must be much higher now
Our population is 1.3 million. 800k is 62%.
A great many of Mainers receive some sort of assistance, though not full out welfare – snap recipients are approximately 250k – 19%.
http://www.fns.usda.gov/pd/15SNAPpartPP.htm
I’m not sure where to start on this comment – I have a wood stove and I grew up with one also. That is just ridiculous of you to say that people should have a license to have a wood stove. I swear that if you could have your way and run this country, it would be like the book 1984.
People have been using wood stoves for a lifetime and there are always going to be those ones that aren’t aware of the dangers and there are those that have a chimney fire and turns out to be devastating. Please, you shouldn’t spout off with such nonsense.
Chill out on the mean comments when the article is about an injured person. The guy is in the hospital with serious burns. Not good. Hopefully he and his partner recover from their ordeal. So sorry to see all the sad fire stories tonight :(
Hopefully they will learn the proper techniques for operating a woodstove. Now knowing how – doesn’t make someone stupid. It just means they need to be taught so stuff like this doesn’t happen as often.
It isn’t rocket science,must be an app for it
It’s not so much a question of technique as it is one of common sense. I realize that you can’t teach common sense, but don’t they teach sixth graders in science class anymore why internal combustion engines operate?
Nanny Gate Rocks,baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaby
duh
I di hope they will be alright, but this was an incredibly stupid act.
Gas in a woodstove = real dumb
Not everyone knows that gasoline fumes are more explosive than dynamite. Night after night on crime shows, actors are seen pouring what is supposed to be gasoline into an automobiles interior or a building in order to set a fire. Then a match is lit and we watch a fire slowly start. Actually if real gasoline had been used, in many cases there would be an explosion. The special effects people are of course using a substance much less volatile than gasoline. I believe that this misleads some people to think that this is the way that gasoline actually reacts.
Gasoline can be an accelerant or the vapor mixture can be an explosive depending on the air to gas vapor mixture ratio. If mulatoff cocktails exploded unreliably, you wouldn’t have seen them come into popular use.
In The Land Of App’s,common sense truly is a lost art
Well, at least he got the fire going.