April 5, 2004

Passover the Paint Thinner, Would Ya?

Fire injures 4 in Brooklyn

"A flash fire during a Passover bread burning ritual in Brooklyn severely burned one man and seriously injured a child when paint thinner was used to reignite a smoldering fire, officials said."

I didn't know about this tradition.

"But strong winds kept blowing out the fire, so Schick retrieved a can of paint thinner to restart the fire, according to fire officials. He was unaware that there were still embers burning in the five-gallon metal bucket used to burn the bread. When he opened the can, the fumes ignited."

Again, this tradition is new to me, an out-of-practice Catholic, but I bet paint thinner usually isn't part of it. Just a hunch.

The victims were badly burned, but are in stable condition.

categories: General
posted by at April 5, 2004 10:16 PM