The Hidden Hazard of an Invisible Flame

Abstract

A case study is presented of a fatal incident in which a man poured denatured alcohol on the wick of an alcohol stove with the intention of later lighting the wick, failed to first notice the wick had already been lit, and was engulfed in flames after the wick's flame followed the stream of fuel into the can, and caused an explosion that spewed flaming fuel onto his torso. A survey was conducted to examine common knowledge about the invisible flame of burning denatured alcohol, and showed that none of the participants were aware that denatured alcohol burned with an invisible flame before the survey, and that a small percentage recognized it as a hazard after reading the product label. The incident is evaluated from the perspective of the manufacturer's failure to guard users from the hazard of the invisible flame and their failure to warn users of the hazard.

Forensic Evaluation of a Hazardous Household Product

“…There are many other accounts of people who have been severely burned because they, or someone else, added denatured alcohol to an existing flame that had not been noticed (Nemire, 2014). In addition, there are numerous accounts of injuries resulting from consumers refilling lit firepots with pourable gel fuel, which also burns with an imperceptible flame.…”

“…We conducted a survey to determine whether consumers were aware of the hazards of an invisible flame when using denatured alcohol, or could become aware by reading the label on the subject can of denatured alcohol (Nemire, 2014). A convenience sample of participants indicated their prior experience with denatured alcohol and listed all hazards they knew or had heard about that were related to using denatured alcohol.…”

“…Participants then were shown a photograph of the entire back panel of the product (Figure 8) and asked, "Assume you are about to use this product as a fuel in a stove. Please write down any hazards that may be associated with using denatured alcohol as a fuel" (Nemire, 2014(Nemire, , p. 1872. As they looked at the photograph of the product label, most wrote "flammable" (62%), "explosive vapor" (65%), and "poisonous" (76%).…”

“…Common experience with flames from fireplaces, campfires, gas ovens, alcohol flames at night or with colorizers, and other sources provide a general experience that one can visually detect the presence of a flame. Consequently, a fuel that burns with an invisible flame would surprise most consumers (Figure 7) and would constitute a hidden hazard (Cohen & Cohen, 2009; Martin, 2000; Nemire, 2014; Williams, Kalsher, & Laughery, 2006).…”

“…Human factors research has shown that the components of an effective warning include an effective signal word as well as hazard, consequence, and instruction statements (Rogers, Lamson, & Rousseau, 2000; Wogalter, Conzola & Smith-Jackson, 2002). Nemire (2014) noted that the subject product label was inadequate as a warning for a number of reasons, including that the heading “HELPFUL TIPS” failed to indicate a warning, that “Use caution as flame may be invisible” failed to adequately describe the hazard, and that consequence and instruction statements were absent.…”