Homeowner Sets House Ablaze After Using Garden-Torch to Melt Snow

A Connecticut homeowner accidentally set their house ablaze when they tried to melt ice and snow around the property with a garden-torch, The News & Observer reports. 

The Seymour Fire Department was called shortly after 5:30 p.m. Saturday to respond to a house fire that was caused by the unidentified resident’s dicey method of using a garden-torch to thaw the icy surrounding area. Firefighters managed to “quickly” put out the flames located at the side exterior wall and save the residence from serious damage. 

The department deleted its original Facebook post regarding the incident after incorrectly describing the device used as a flamethrower, and issued a correction the following day. “The post discussed the cause of the fire and mentioned that a ‘flamethrower’ was being used by the resident of the house,” the department said in an updated post, per Connecticut Post. “This information was unfortunately not accurate.” 

“It was being used appropriately,” Seymour Fire Marshal Timm Willis acknowledged, adding that the garden-torch was used too close to the house. 

CT Insider discussed the garden-torch mishap with former New Haven Fire Department chief Martin O’Connor, who said the accident speaks to a misconception that homeowners have whenever their house is impacted by the bitter cold. “In the winter months when people encounter unusual situations like frozen pipes or gutters, their natural instinct is to say, ‘Well, I’ve got to heat it up some way,’ and quite naturally it turns to blow torches or various open-flame devices,” O’Connor said. “It is almost universally a bad idea.”