London: In a bizarre incident in the UK, a man trying to kill a spider ended up setting fire to his house -- a month after an American man did the same thing.
Fire crews had to be called to extinguish the fire caused by the man trying to get rid of a spider in the house in Bridgend, Wales.
The occupant of the property sprayed the insect with aerosol before setting it alight, Wales online reported.
A spokeswoman for South Wales Fire and Rescue confirmed the incident which was being treated as accidental. "We attended an incident in Kenfig Hill at 11.57 am on Wednesday to extinguish a small fire at the rear of a property due to the occupant attempting to remove a spider from a rear window by initially spraying the insect with an aerosol and then proceeding to light it," she was quoted as saying.
"There are more conventional ways of getting rid of insects," she said.
The South Wales Fire and Rescue official said members of the public should "avoid using aerosols inappropriately and should never ignite the gas...due to their volatile nature and the risk of severe injuries should they explode, as well as the damage such an explosion causes".
A single hose was used to put out the fire which was confined to a small area at the back of the house. Last month, a man in Seattle caused an estimated 23,000 pounds of damage to his rented house and lost 11,000 pounds worth of goods when he accidentally set fire to the building while trying to kill a spider.
Firefighters told KIRO TV that the man had used a can of spray paint and a lighter as a blowtorch.
