An Australian man is in a hospital Thursday after he accidentally blew up his Mount Isa home trying to kill cockroaches by igniting cans of bug spray and using them like a flamethrower in his living room, according to local police.
Australian man blows up his house trying to kill cockroaches with homemade flamethrower
DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME!
Photo by Jonathan Wood/Getty Images
James Dator has been covering a wide range of sports for SB Nation for over a decade, with a special focus on the NFL.
The man, whose name has not been released, allegedly ignited a can-and-a-half of the spray in an attempt to burn the cockroaches. The cans then exploded, shattering windows and blowing a hole in the wall of his home. Local police officer Ian Louden had a message for anyone thinking of doing the same thing.
“The instructions are put on these things for a purpose and failure to follow them can result in, as it did in this case, extreme damage to the property.”
The injured man’s neighbor, whose quote I’m mostly including because his name is “Kerrod Karkadoo,” explained what he saw happen.
“We were just sitting out and having a few beers and we just heard ‘boohowww.’ There was a bloke walking around, holding his face.”
Now look, as SB Nation.com’s resident Australian, I am obliged to explain that this is absolutely not a thing any logical, thoughtful person would do. There are a few factors that really explain all this:
- Mount Isa is in Queensland, which is the country’s northeast. It’s the inverse of the U.S, so think of it like the South. This is basically Australia’s Alabama.
- Any Australian reading this story would say “Mount Isa, sounds about right.”
- Sorry, mum, I know you grew up near Mount Isa.
I don’t necessarily blame this dude for losing it with a cockroach infestation. Anyone who has ever had the misfortune of living in place with roaches will tell you that it is an absolute killer. They were pretty hard to avoid growing up in Sydney. Proximity to the water meant they were constantly looking for places to stay, and the old apartments in the eastern suburbs were perfect (this was all before gentrification took over and everything was rebuilt.)
But this story did remind me of a gross cockroach story from my childhood. Anyone with cockroach experience will tell you there are two distinctly different types: The little ones that get inside the house and are viscerally less disgusting, but practically way worse — and the big, massive ones. They won’t really spread disease, but they look way worse.
It was dusk, and I was about 9 years old, or so. I was out skateboarding with some friends and had to get home. We lived at the bottom of a big hill, so it was a quick ride back. For whatever reason the street was teeming with those big, gross roaches. They were everywhere. I rode down the street and heard a cacophony of loud “pops,” as if I was skating over bubble wrap. I couldn’t work out what was going on. Until I got home. I flipped my board over and it was an insect murder scene. It looked as if someone had shot my deck with a paintball gun full of bug guts. Legs were stuck in my bearings. It was an insect hellscape.
Sorry, I had to share that. You’ve got to process your emotions somehow. Enjoy your lunch.
