MICHIGAN — Two men were hospitalized with non-life threatening burns after one of them lit a cigarette inside a van filled with fumes from a container of gasoline, and the van exploded and caught fire.

Both men bailed out of the van after the explosion, and it continued rolling though the parking lot of a fire station before hitting a fence and stopping. Even more ironic, the fire truck that should have been at that station was re-fueling across town, so trucks from two other stations also had to respond.

When all three of the city’s fire departments showed up to battle the blaze, it was extinguished quickly, but the van and fence were completely destroyed. Alas, the world has lost another ‘92 Aerostar.

Fences can be re-built, but there will never be a replacement for that quality family vehicle.

Traveling with a container of gasoline can be risky, but lighting a cigarette inside a confined space with one nearby is a violation of common sense. One year and one week ago, I wrote about a similar incident that occurred in Texas. I predicted that it would probably happen again soon, but in Florida.

Well, I was close enough — Michigan is clearly Florida’s peninsular inbred cousin of the north.

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