Trivia Junction

A Compendium of trivia I find interesting
...for the curious

Is a cigarette a hazard with gasoline?

In the 1999 movie “Payback,” there's a scene in which Mel Gibson drops a burning cigarette into a trail of leaking gasoline. The resulting flame quickly races back up the street to the bad guys' car, which duly explodes.

It's a common-enough effect, often seen in action movies. In the real world, though, it's virtually impossible. Using X-ray theromography, Robin Holleyhead, an English forensic scientist, says a lit cigarette dropped into a puddle of gas is far more likely to simply burn out than go boom – at least under ordinary circumstances with normal oxygen levels.

That's because the gasoline has limited contact with the hottest, glowing part of the cigarette. Most of the tip is actually cloaked in an outer layer of ash, which is significantly cooler and prevents heat from reaching the gas.

American fire experts have conducted similar tests and have confirmed Holleyhead's findings, according to New Scientist magazine.

But that's not to say lit cigarettes don't pose a huge fire danger. They are the leading cause of wildfires in the United States and the world, primarily by igniting dry vegetation.

And, according to the U.S. Consumer Protection Agency, cigarette-initiated fires are the single largest cause of fire deaths in the United States.

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