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-Short Attention Span Theater-

Teenager burned trying to kill head lice with gas

2009-02-27

Police say a teenager who soaked her hair in gasoline to try to kill head lice was severely burned when the gas fumes ignited and set her head ablaze.
Well, that's one way to do it.
Eighteen-year-old Jessica Brooks was in serious condition Thursday at the burn unit at University Hospital in Louisville, Ky. She was burned Sunday night at her apartment in Evansville, Ind. Police said Brooks was in her bathroom letting her hair soak in gasoline just before a pilot light from a water heater ignited the gas fumes and her hair.
Wonder if she had time to say, "Oh shit!" after hearing the "Fwump"?
Investigator Richard Howard said Brooks suffered second- and third-degree burns over more than half of her body.
I'm deeply sorry for this poor girl and hope she pulls through. But, damm, that's just about the stupidest thing I've ever heard of doing.
Brooks was taking high school night classes in hopes of graduating this year.

Posted by:Steve

#13 My grandmother used kerosene occasionally as a hair "Enhancer" She said it made her hair glossy,
75 and still had coal black hair, so ?

Posted by: Redneck Jim 2009-02-27 19:11

#12 I've spent some time in a burn unit. Even the morphine didn't help much at first. The next worse thing was getting the skin at my joints to streatch. That took a lot of work. I had to be very careful and wear long sleaves because some of the skin was only 2 couple of layers thick and the least little friction would create an area like when you skinned your knee. I'm not going to laugh or poke fun at burn victims. I hope she recovers.

Posted by: Deacon Blues 2009-02-27 18:14

#11 #8 Laura Ingalls Wilder

Had not heard that author's name in many years. Nice mention TW.

Posted by: Besoeker 2009-02-27 17:20

#10 Would something like whatever it was that Rush Limbaugh was addicted to help with the pain?

In acute burn cases I believe morphine is often used.

Posted by: lotp 2009-02-27 14:51

#9 When I was a kid, kerosene was the treatment of choice for us po'folk when a lice outbreak occured.

Gasoline is far too volatile - my mother, being a farm girl, knew better

Posted by: Uncle Phester 2009-02-27 14:32

#8 Laura Ingalls Wilder mentioned combing lamp oil through her hair as a cleanser in one of the later Little House on the Prairie books (The Long Winter, if I recall correctly). Although she didn't talk about head lice, clearly that was the unmentioned reason, since they had soap to wash clothes. They, too, would have dried their hair before the fire, although no doubt they had enough experience to better estimate the required distance. The poor girl was working to make something of herself outside the common path. My prayers for her quick recovery.

Would something like whatever it was that Rush Limbaugh was addicted to help with the pain?

Posted by: trailing wife 2009-02-27 13:38

#7 I spent some time volunteering in a burn unit / regional trauma center years ago. The pain from a burn like this is unbelievably intense and unremitting. I truly wouldn't wish it on my worst enemies, and I have a few I'm tempted to hate deeply .....

Treatment in the burn center where I spent time involved, among other things, abrading off the dead skin and making sure it doesn't grow back too *quickly*. With extensive burns there isn't enough healthy skin to do grafts, so recovery is difficult, slow and excruciating.

Today there are burn coverings / artificial skin dressing that help a lot, but it's still one of the most long lasting and painful experiences a person can endure.

Posted by: lotp 2009-02-27 12:54

#6 According to my mother, this was the way they did it back in the old days. However, you do not need the match.

Posted by: tu3031 2009-02-27 11:34

#5 It did get the lice, didn't it ?

Posted by: Woozle Elmeter 2700 2009-02-27 11:30

#4 Well, this has long been one of the myths as to how to get rid of lice. I'm surprised this is the first instance I've heard of of fire. Poor girl.

Posted by: sjb 2009-02-27 10:30

#3 Thanks mom. Lots of good folks down Evansville way. I did some pretty stupid things at 50 18 too. She's just a poor kid going to night classes. Just makes me want to sob.

Posted by: Besoeker 2009-02-27 10:14

#2 Ladies and gentlemen, we're going to turn off the "boy, was that stupid" commentary and pray. Now. The pain this girl will have, and the lasting scars are horrific.

Youngest son, at age 18 months, grabbed a cup of hot water just out of the microwave and dumped it on himself. We spent the next three months getting outpatient therapy from the burn unit. Some of the people in the burn unit had done things equally dumb, but the suffering is way out of proportion to the dumbness.

Posted by: mom 2009-02-27 10:11

#1 That is beyond sad. I pray she pulls through.

Posted by: Besoeker 2009-02-27 08:09

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