Rocks found on OC beach catch fire (KTLA News)
Posted on 06/01/2012 7:55:02 AM PDT by BenLurkin
SAN CLEMENTE, Calif. (KTLA) -- Beach rocks that seriously burned a 43-year old woman were covered in elevated levels of phosphate, tests show.
Lyn Hiner's children collected the seven rocks at Trestles Beach and brought them home.
Hours later, Hiner picked them up from the floor of her home and put them in her pocket.
"All of a sudden, something hot on my leg just sort of started to bother me, and so I started to think it was a bug bite, and I started slapping it, and the next thing I know my shorts are on fire," she said on "Good Morning, America."
At that point the rocks either caught fire or became hot enough to set fire to her clothing, Capt. Marc Stone of the Orange County Fire Authority said.
The rocks were sent to a state laboratory for testing, and results released Thursday confirmed elevated traces of the inorganic chemical, an agency spokeswoman said in an emailed statement.
But how the chemical got on the rocks isn't known.
(Excerpt) Read more at ktla.com ...
I question her veracity. After all, her pants were on fire.
/johnny
Hadda break out the replacement keyboard, I snorted coffee all over the other one! LOL!
Had to be phosphorus.
Some forms ignite at around body temperature.
Maybe piezoelectric quartz caused a little spark and ignited the fine lint in her pocket?
White Phosphorus people: San Clemente is at the northern edge of Camp Pendleton. All sorts of miltary smoke projectiles use WP to make fluffy white Phosphorus pentoxide smoke. If it lands in water (i.e., ocean f'rinstance) it quenches the flame. When the "rock" comes out of the water and the crust cracks to allow oxygen to reach the WP, she starts burning.
I found a 25 pound WP bomb washed up on the beach a few mile south of San Clemente a few years ago (a Navy smoke float).
WP burns are not a all funny and I have see some horrific stuff during my career..
Thanks. It’s obviously not a natural phenomenon. I was wondering if some jerk had been fooling around with phosphorus on the beach. But your explanation makes more sense.
OC
“Don’t call it that.” — Michael Bluth
LOL
LOL REALLY loud. You win. No one has to post anything at FR today because you have won it all. In my grade school, the ultimate compliment for a witty saying or joke was, “Good one.” As a former member of the Osborn School eighth school, I say to you, “Good one.”
lol, lol, lol, lol
I hope the jerk’s name wasn’t Achmed or Muhammad.
Tomorrow headline: Police arrest OC mother for possession of dangerous substance
It’s the old Willy-Peter in the pocket scam.
My guess is there was a beach party the night before, someone threw some road flares on the fire, where there were rocks, someone else peed the fire out before the flares finished burning leaving melted flare goop on the rocks. The kids found the rocks covered with pretty flare goop, they dried out, mom ‘struck’ them in her pocket, and viola, chemistry.
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