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Fire Chief: Bug Bombs Fueled House Explosion
OMAHA, Neb. -- A home explosion in Red Oak last week was caused by bug defoggers, investigators said on Tuesday.
On April 11, Jill Kaczor, 23, and Melissa Golden, 25, were hurt in the explosion.
According to the Iowa State Fire Marshal's Office, the blast was the result of excessive bug fogger devices. The propellant used in the fogger device is flammable and ultimately caused the explosion, the investigator said.The women remain hospitalized in critical condition at St. Elizabeth in Lincoln, Neb.
Red Oak Fire Chief Rick Askey said Golden is the daughter of the homeowner, Kim Miller. Kaczor is a family friend.
Askey said Miller is allergic to spiders and the house was having a spider problem, so she bought eight cheap, scentless bug bombs and set them off, then left the home. The women who were injured were going to the home to pick up a dog that was outside, Askey said. While they were there, they decided to surprise Miller by cleaning the home, Askey said. They were not aware that Miller had bug-bombed the house, and since the chemical used was odorless, they didn't smell anything either, Askey said.
While in the home both women said they started to feel ill, so they went to the living room to rest. While in the living room, the dogs on the exterior started barking and going crazy, Askey said. The two got up and were exiting the back door to see what the dogs were doing. When they did, a rush of fresh air entered the home and an appliance kicked on -- probably the freezer, heater, furnace or hot water heater, Askey said -- and that's when the explosion occurred and a fireball followed.
"It's like turning a gas valve on when you open the lid," said Kyle Ienn, the chief of Ralston's Volunteer Fire Department and manager of Center Ace Hardware. "If people think, 'One is good, two is better,' and put several in a basement where a pilot light is, or anywhere there's a spark, then it's just like filling your house up with gas and igniting it."
Ienn said bug foggers have highly flammable accelerants inside to help release the pesticides.
"If you read the back of the label, it says, 'Do not use more than one. Don't use in enclosed area. Ventilate. Turn off any kind of electrical appliances, gas, pilot lights,'" he said.
Ienn said bad bug infestations can be treated with fewer foggers used more often, as directed on the back of the product.
"It's when you do two three or four you're putting more gas into the house or bedroom," Ienn said.
A few days after the Red Oak explosion, there was a similar explosion in Mason City, Iowa, also from a bug bomb, Askey said.
OMAHA, Neb. -- A home explosion in Red Oak last week was caused by bug defoggers, investigators said on Tuesday.
On April 11, Jill Kaczor, 23, and Melissa Golden, 25, were hurt in the explosion.
According to the Iowa State Fire Marshal's Office, the blast was the result of excessive bug fogger devices. The propellant used in the fogger device is flammable and ultimately caused the explosion, the investigator said.The women remain hospitalized in critical condition at St. Elizabeth in Lincoln, Neb.
Red Oak Fire Chief Rick Askey said Golden is the daughter of the homeowner, Kim Miller. Kaczor is a family friend.
Askey said Miller is allergic to spiders and the house was having a spider problem, so she bought eight cheap, scentless bug bombs and set them off, then left the home. The women who were injured were going to the home to pick up a dog that was outside, Askey said. While they were there, they decided to surprise Miller by cleaning the home, Askey said. They were not aware that Miller had bug-bombed the house, and since the chemical used was odorless, they didn't smell anything either, Askey said.
While in the home both women said they started to feel ill, so they went to the living room to rest. While in the living room, the dogs on the exterior started barking and going crazy, Askey said. The two got up and were exiting the back door to see what the dogs were doing. When they did, a rush of fresh air entered the home and an appliance kicked on -- probably the freezer, heater, furnace or hot water heater, Askey said -- and that's when the explosion occurred and a fireball followed.
"It's like turning a gas valve on when you open the lid," said Kyle Ienn, the chief of Ralston's Volunteer Fire Department and manager of Center Ace Hardware. "If people think, 'One is good, two is better,' and put several in a basement where a pilot light is, or anywhere there's a spark, then it's just like filling your house up with gas and igniting it."
Ienn said bug foggers have highly flammable accelerants inside to help release the pesticides.
"If you read the back of the label, it says, 'Do not use more than one. Don't use in enclosed area. Ventilate. Turn off any kind of electrical appliances, gas, pilot lights,'" he said.
Ienn said bad bug infestations can be treated with fewer foggers used more often, as directed on the back of the product.
"It's when you do two three or four you're putting more gas into the house or bedroom," Ienn said.
A few days after the Red Oak explosion, there was a similar explosion in Mason City, Iowa, also from a bug bomb, Askey said.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Engineco913 on
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Myth Busters is right on some home foggers and wrong on others. When the label says warning contents are flammable, and you can look up the MSDS sheets and see that indeed they are flammable, I tend to agree with the manufacturer. The chemicals that compose the insect repellant (each being differant per brand name and type) are what pose the possability of having a flash point.
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