Man lucky to be alive after blowing himself up when he used a cigarette LIGHTER to help him see as he filled his car with fuel

JOHN CARNEY
25 March 2015
DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA
The saying ‘just when you think something is idiot proof they invent a new idiot’ was proven again this week when a man set fire to his car after using a cigarette lighter to see while filling it with a jerry can.
In the early hours of Sunday morning a man from Sunshine in Victoria ran out of fuel about one kilometre east of Ararat on the Western Highway.
He went on foot to a local petrol station to get a jerry can but could not see what he was doing when he returned to the car.
Cars have gone up in flames for a variety of reasons, but setting one on fire because the person was using a cigarette lighter to see while filling it with a jerry can has to be the worst one yet
ABC reports that Acting Inspector Brendan Broadbent said the man lost all common sense when trying to find a solution to the problem.
‘Because there was no light he’s actually, in the process of pouring fuel into his vehicle, he’s used his lighter to light up the area so he could see,’ he said.
Police said the man abandoned common sense in the search for a solution to filling his car with the jerry can in the dark
‘Subsequently the fumes have ignited and the vehicle’s caught on fire.’
The rear of the car was burnt but Acting Inspector Broadbent said the man was lucky to escape without injury.
‘That could have been far worse.’
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