Man bursts into flames after Taser shock

[JayInPa]

http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapc...ref=newssearch


(CNN) -- A man, who doused himself with gasoline and charged at an officer, burst into flames when he was hit with a Taser, police in Australia said Tuesday.

"He was carrying a lighter and pouring himself with petrol," said Inspector Bill Munnee with the West Australian Police. "We don't know if the lighter set it off or something from the Taser."

Authorities have launched an inquiry into what happened Monday when an officer arrived at the 36-year-old man's house in the remote desert community of Warburton.

Police had received a report that the man and some others were sniffing glue, Munnee said.

At the sight of the arriving officers, the man ran out of the house with a container of gasoline and a cigarette lighter, police said.

When he ignored the officer's command to stop, the officer fired his Taser stun gun -- and the man "caught alight," Munnee said.

While the officer tried to put out the fire, a woman from inside the house threw rocks at him, Munnee said. The officer suffered both burns from the fire and cuts from the rocks.

The man was airlifted to a hospital in the Western Australian capital of Perth, where he is undergoing treatment for severe burns.

Police charged him with assault with intent to prevent arrest and possession of a deleterious substance.

The rock-throwing woman was charged with assaulting a public officer.

"He has an extensive record of very violent behavior toward police and people," Munnee said of the man. "He's not Mother Teresa or the Pope."

[unclejumbo]

You get the hot dogs, I'll bring the marshmallows.

[AKross]

You get the hot dogs, I'll bring the marshmallows.

Now that is disrespectful. I can't even believe what I am reading. We need gram crackers and chocolate too, you know for smores.

[chrisjames_71]

You get the hot dogs, I'll bring the marshmallows.

I'll bring the beer!!

[fingers80002]

Gives a new meaning to "wienie roast".........

[King 5.45]

Old news: http://forum.pafoa.org/lounge-108/66...rbie-next.html

[JCWohlschlag]

Isn’t this the exact reason that police use pepper spray that is supposed to be non-flammable now? The isobutane propellant and alcohol carrier solution, and the vapors they release after spraying the target, can go up in flame pretty easily. Not TASERing someone soaked in gasoline isn’t exactly rocket science for safety training.

[JCWohlschlag]

Hmmm… the news article at http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/new...-1225752613397 says that the guy was huffing gasoline and not that he was dousing himself in it. TASERing someone in that case is a bit more explainable than with someone doused in gasoline, as it is not as obvious that the guy is going to become a human barbecue.

Plus, since this guy ran at the cops with a lighter and a can of gas, he can probably consider himself lucky that he didn’t get straight-up shot. So, in a way, the guy is kind of lucky he got TASERed.

[ehidle]

It doesn't take flame to ignite a combustible mixture. It only takes energy.

A stoichiometric mixture of oxygen and propane vapor will ignite with a discharge of about 180 microjoules of energy - that's a very very small amount of energy.

Octane will ignite with as little as 800 microjoules. The probability of ignition increases non-linearly with increasing energy.

The Taser X26 (which I understand is a common model) discharges 70,000 microjoules per pulse, so that could have, and almost certainly would have, ignited the fuel mixture.

Whether the resulting combustion would be self-sustaining depends on the mixture ratios, temperature, and other things, but a person's clothing doused with gasoline in open air creates very favorable conditions for sustained combustion.

edit: BTW JCW, A gas can and a lighter is not unsafe and the combination presents no inherent threat. It is an invention of hollywood pseudo-science that a gas can, tanker truck, or other closed vessel filled with liquid fuel can explode. Quite the opposite is true. If you have a half full gas can and throw a match into it, the match will be extinguished by the liquid. Some of the vapor mixture at the top will ignite and burn off, but there likely will not be continued combustion due to lack of any way to create a combustible mixture from the fuel.

Fuel tanks are not even considered hazardous atmospheres by FM (one of the approval bodies for industrial equipment), and therefore do not even require intrinsically safe (IS) probes. There is nothing combustible in a properly-maintained fuel container.

[Bmarshall91]

It doesn't take flame to ignite a combustible mixture. It only takes energy.

A stoichiometric mixture of oxygen and propane vapor will ignite with a discharge of about 180 microjoules of energy - that's a very very small amount of energy.

Octane will ignite with as little as 800 microjoules. The probability of ignition increases non-linearly with increasing energy.

The Taser X26 (which I understand is a common model) discharges 70,000 microjoules per pulse, so that could have, and almost certainly would have, ignited the fuel mixture.

Whether the resulting combustion would be self-sustaining depends on the mixture ratios, temperature, and other things, but a person's clothing doused with gasoline in open air creates very favorable conditions for sustained combustion.

edit: BTW JCW, A gas can and a lighter is not unsafe and the combination presents no inherent threat. It is an invention of hollywood pseudo-science that a gas can, tanker truck, or other closed vessel filled with liquid fuel can explode. Quite the opposite is true. If you have a half full gas can and throw a match into it, the match will be extinguished by the liquid. Some of the vapor mixture at the top will ignite and burn off, but there likely will not be continued combustion due to lack of any way to create a combustible mixture from the fuel.

Fuel tanks are not even considered hazardous atmospheres by FM (one of the approval bodies for industrial equipment), and therefore do not even require intrinsically safe (IS) probes. There is nothing combustible in a properly-maintained fuel container.

And that was todays lesson! Thanks for watching kids, and have a SCIENCE FILLED day! ....