Question: How did you set yourself on fire?

Matthew Camilleri answered on 10 Nov 2014:

Looking back it was a funny story, in which I was both unlucky and a little clumsy.

A number of chemicals are pyrophoric, meaning that they catch fire as soon as they are exposed to air, and I was using one such compound. A number of solvents, a liquid in which the solids dissolve, are actually fuels, and I was using methanol, which will burn in a clear blue flame.

The procedure in my lab was that once you are done with the pyrophoric material you kill it by exposing it slowly to air, and after a few seconds it is ready to be disposed of as a chemical waste. Unfortunately, after waiting for 5 minuted to dispose of this chemical it was still reacting, and when I went to wash it with methanol a clear blue flame developed.

This flame was quickly propagated through the bench and onto my labcoat, without me even realising I was on fire. Once I realised I shouted for help which was to no avail as we have a fire proof glass between my lab and the office which also makes it sound proof. After a couple of minutes one of my mates realised I was acting strange and came to see what had happened, at which point we put the fire off and sought medical help for my hand.