Pensioner Blows Up House With Electric Fly Swatter

A pensioner accidentally blew up his home in France while trying to catch a fly.

The unnamed gentleman in his 80s was eating dinner at his home in the village of Parcoul-Chenaud in Dordogne when the little critter started buzzing around his head.

In a bid to get rid of the blighter once and for all, he grabbed his electric fly swatter and went for it.

However, the man was unaware that a gas cylinder was leaking, and when he turned the swatter on and swang for the fly, the electricity reacted with the gas and caused a spark.

The explosion blew a hole through his roof and destroyed his kitchen.

PA

Fortunately, the man escaped with a few burns and was taken to hospital in Libourne where he was treated.

According to reports in the Mail, 'an investigating source' said: "On this occasion, gas was leaking into the man's house.

"The very hot zapper ignited the gas, causing a sudden explosion.

"The man was lucky to get away with a burned hand after diving on the floor, but the kitchen was destroyed along with part of the roof."

It's also understood that the man was not allowed to return to the house, and is staying on a campsite while the property is repaired.

This isn't the only time a seemingly simple confrontation with a bug has gone awry.

PA

Back in 2018, a man accidentally burned down a house after using a blowtorch to try and get rid of spiders, which you might think is overkill, but I think is probably about right.

The man was looking after his parents' place in Fresno, California, when he saw a number of 'dangerous spiders' in the property, 6 ABC reported at the time.

Firefighters said the man was trying to kill black widow spiders in the house and picked up a blowtorch.

In total, 29 firefighters were called out to deal with the fire.

Fortunately, he was able to make it out of the property safely and no one else was in the house at the time. The fate of the spiders is not known, but it's not looking good.

If you're a fellow arachnophobe, you might not be surprised to learn that this isn't an entirely uncommon occurence.

Last year, a man also decided that a home-made blowtorch was preferable to the old piece of card and a glass combo and ended up setting his house ablaze.

Topics: World News, Spiders, France, Weird

Dominic Smithers

Dominic graduated from the University of Leeds with a degree in French and History. Like you, Dom has often questioned how much use a second language has been. Well, after stints working at the Manchester Evening News, the Accrington Observer and the Macclesfield Express, along with never setting foot in France, he realised the answer is surprisingly little. But I guess, c'est la vie. Contact us at [email protected]

@SmithersDom