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FIRE SERVICE AND GENERAL FIRE SAFETY TOPICS => Fire Safety => Topic started by: Chris Houston on April 21, 2007, 10:42:44 AM

Title: Hair oil boy sets himself alight
Post by: Chris Houston on April 21, 2007, 10:42:44 AM

From: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/dorset/6577485.stm

A teenager was left with severe burns when he accidentally set his hair on fire after rubbing in head lice lotion.
Matthew Moore, 15, of Purbeck, Dorset, had just applied the lotion when he started playing with a cigarette lighter, which ignited his hair.

Matthew and his mother, Lesley, blame the Hedrin lotion but its manufacturers insist it is not flammable and failed to ignite in their laboratory tests.

Matthew is recovering in the burns unit at Salisbury District Hospital.

The teenager, who suffered severe burns to his face, ears, neck and arms in the incident on 10 April, said: "The gas must have found a reason to burn and it jumped and it must have caught my hair.

"I tried to put my fringe out but it went all over my hands and set my hands alight."

His mother called for the product to be recalled and for warnings to be added to the labelling.

In a statement, manufacturers of the lotion Thornton & Ross said: "It's the very first incident of its kind.

"The product is not flammable. It's been fully approved by various regulatory authorities."

The company added that nobody should ever put a naked flame close to their hair.

A spokesman for Dorset Fire and Rescue Service added: "Don't play with lighters close to your hair and that goes generally when you have applied any type of hair product.

Title: Hair oil boy sets himself alight
Post by: Chris Houston on April 21, 2007, 10:43:37 AM

Quote from: Dorset Fire and Rescue Service

"Don't play with lighters close to your hair

Good advice I think!

Title: Hair oil boy sets himself alight
Post by: kurnal on April 21, 2007, 11:36:36 AM

Dont think it will be a hazard for me though.

Title: Hair oil boy sets himself alight
Post by: messy on April 21, 2007, 07:41:45 PM

Surely it did exactly what it said on the tin, as I am sure that there are no lice left now!!!!!

Title: Hair oil boy sets himself alight
Post by: jokar on April 21, 2007, 08:59:35 PM

lice one!!!

Title: Hair oil boy sets himself alight
Post by: Ken Taylor on April 22, 2007, 12:58:49 AM

Presumably this sort of thing is something of a rareity these days. We used to get lots of women smokers with burnt heads from flammable hair lacquer and also used the stuff in fire demos at one time.

Title: Hair oil boy sets himself alight
Post by: wee brian on April 23, 2007, 09:11:40 AM

Hair gel goes quite well. You get a nice blue flame.

Title: Hair oil boy sets himself alight
Post by: Ken Taylor on April 23, 2007, 06:53:32 PM

The flame-thrower effect was more dramatic.