Silke Jasso
Alright, so lesson learned folks, especially all my cigarette smokers out here- don’t light a cigarette and then use hand sanitizer after. This should make sense considering most generic hand sanitizers are disinfectants that contain alcohol. So if you do the math, alcohol, and fire make for quite the explosive result. But this poor driver in Rockville, Maryland, probably didn’t think about that little equation. As he accidentally set his own car on fire.
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Basically, Te Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service responded to the bizarre case at the Federal Plaza shopping center. A man had lit his cigarette in his car and then proceeded to use some hand sanitizer. When the sanitizer ignited, hence our little equation of what alcohol and fire equal, it set his whole car on fire.
Driver Uses Hand Sanitizer After Lighting Cigarette, Car Goes Up in Flames
Although the incident resulted in a total loss when it came to his car, the driver thankfully only sustained minor burns and non-life-threatening injuries. He was still taken to the hospital. Fire officials told ABC 7, “using hand sanitizer and smoking a cigarette is a bad combo in unventilated areas like a car,” so you don’t need to take my word for it as to why you shouldn’t probably have the two near each other.
I truly feel bad for this guy. This man was probably habitually sanitizing his hands after a shopping trip of some sort. How was he supposed to realize that it would be quite the ignition source that would cause a vehicle fire? It’s not like he was thinking about how the disinfectant that would help save lives would also cause open flames.
But on the bright side, it might help him quit smoking those cancer sticks anyways. I know I’d be a little traumatized to smoke if I went through that.
