Dr. Jim McGorman’s story on how fire pots can be dangerous (described video)

Transcript

Transcript

Jim McGorman:

 “Well, yeah, that’s a hard thing to talk about. But Judith was a very hard working, loving mother who loved her job as a dentist.”

Text on-screen: In 2016, Judith Buys and Jim McGorman were invited to a neighbour’s cottage.

“There was a terrible big blackout in August. So we walked down to the peoples’ cottage and there was a flame thing going in the middle because we didn’t have any lights because there was no electricity, so this was their only source of light. And I thought that’s pretty, it was flaming – it looked nice.”

Text on-screen: The source of light was this alcohol-fuelled firepot.

“And there was a huge flash of light and a lot of screaming. They came and got me and said Judith had been badly injured.

Judith was sedated and intubated and taken to Sunnybrook and became very ill very quickly. She became septic. What kills burn patients is infection. We had to watch as she quickly deteriorated. They did a number of things to make her better but nothing would work.”

Text on-screen: Since his wife’s death, Jim McGorman, has been campaigning to raise public awareness.

There will be times when that thing will still be burning and you won’t know that it is, because you cannot see the flame.

As you pour it, there is this cloud that you can’t see of flammable material in the air. And it draws the flame down into the container that you are holding and pouring and when it does that it has nowhere to go but out. And it makes a flame thrower.

It is always dangerous to re-fuel directly into a fire pot if you have not completely extinguished the fire.

Well, I can’t help Judith. You know. I don’t want anybody else to die. Sorry. That’s a tough one.”

Text on-screen:

• Never re-fuel a hot firepot
• Always use a fuel container with a flame arrestor
• Be sure no one is nearby