[nilesfunnies] Teenage boy blows up the house with deodorant

Teenage boy blows up the house with deodorant
By David Sapsted
(Filed: 01/06/2006)

A teenager left at home while his parents were on holiday decided to do
some washing - and ended up blowing the roof off and causing £35,000 of
damage.

In a freak string of mishaps, Sean Davey, 18, left a washing basket full
of clothes on top of the electric cooker. He then accidentally knocked
one of the hob controls, turning on one of the rings, before going out
to meet friends.

The heated ring set fire to the basket of clothes which, in turn, heated
a nearby bag of shopping that his sister Nicky, 20, had left for her
brother earlier in the day.

And that caused a can of Sure deodorant to explode with such force that
it not only blew out windows but cracked a wall and even, briefly,
lifted the roof off the bungalow.

Three fire crews tackled the blaze in the home at Caister-on-Sea near
Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, on Sunday evening. Firemen rescued one of the
family's labrador dogs while the other one escaped of his own accord and
reappeared, somewhat shaken, eight hours later.

Joanne Bray, who cut short her holiday in the Scottish Highlands with
her husband Paul when they heard of the disaster, said yesterday that
structural damage to the building was estimated at £20,000 with another
£15,000 needed to repair fire and smoke damage inside.

"Sean phoned me and said: 'Mum, the house is on fire.' I have forgiven
him because it was just one of those unfortunate accidents. I am just
grateful that he and the dogs are alive and well," said Mrs Bray.

"I can't really blame him for what happened. I would be happy to leave
him again when we next go on holiday. It is just ironic that the fire
was started by the electric hob because Sean didn't actually cook
anything while we were away - he survived on microwave meals and takeaways."

Alan Jaye, the watch manager with Norfolk Fire Service, said: "The can
of deodorant was left near the cooker hood in the kitchen. The pressure
waves that aerosols give off when they explode can be quite phenomenal.

"In this case, the force of the blast was so great that some of the
window frames were pushed right out and a crack was put in the building.

"We would advise families never to expose aerosol cans to any heat."

Sean and his parents were staying with friends yesterday.