PSA: Don't Set Your Yard On Fire To Get Rid Of Snow & Ice

Kate2/19/2021 7:25 PM

If you encounter a particularly rough patch of ice or snow while shoveling this winter, don’t reach for a can of gasoline like a Midland Park man did this past Friday, police say.
Police and firefighters responded to the man’s home on Paterson Avenue where he had set a small fire to try to melt the snow and ice. Once the fire department arrived, they called in the Bergen County Hazmat Unit, who used the Speedy Dry to sop up the gas.
The man, whom police would not name, had poured about a half-gallon of gasoline on a gravelly 2-foot by 2-foot square section of his backyard.
“He thought a good idea would be to dump some gasoline on and light it on fire,” police Lt. John Gibbons told NJ Advance Media.

I've never heard of people setting fire to their yards to get rid of snow & ice, but once on the Chaps & Kate Show (RIP) we shared a story about a baseball coach in trouble for setting the field on fire to dry it off and the calls started pouring in. Apparently this is very much a thing (and especially was in the fast & loose days of the 80s).