Petrol/cigarettes

MatC · 160005. Mon Mar 26, 2007 9:39 am

I’m just writing this one up as a Mythcon, and it occurred to me it might belong here also ...

Q: What happens when you throw a lit cigarette into a pool of petrol?
A: Nothing. Eventually, the fag goes out.

Well, allegedly ...

Anyway, the details are at
http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=311752007

Flash · 160042. Mon Mar 26, 2007 11:19 am

There's a case in the law of tort, the name of which I forget, which arose when a dockyard welder was welding near where there had been an oil leak from a tanker, and oil was spreading across the water's surface. Apparently the best, in fact unanimous, scientific opinion at the time was that a fire could not result from this situation. So when the docks burnt down there was a bit of a legal tussle about whether the employers of the welder were responsible or not.

I can't remember the outcome, either.