Burn injury: IRL experience vs. TLD experience

[Cattleman]

 So I recently had an accident IRL that reminded me of some of my TLD follies, and it has made me realize just how fast fire can put you into a very dire situation... Especially if you were in a survival scenario. 

 

I was burning some garbage and using Gasoline (I usually use diesel+motor oil, but had some old gas I didnt want to waste) to aid in getting a hot fire in order to better burn diapers. Unfortunately when I sloshed a bit more gas into the burn barrel, the wind gusted and blew the flaming gas back in my face. This engulfed my head in flames, it took about 1 second to realize what exactly was happening to me, at which time (beginning to panic) I set down the gas jug and began rolling on the ground and tearing my snap up shirt (which had also caught fire) off.

 

Once I was fully extinguished, and had my shirt off, I was in pretty bad shape. My eye-glasses and hat saved my eyes and most my hair, but I still got bad 1st degree and a mild 2nd degree burns on one side of my face. My right hand had gotten soaked in gasoline (most likely from me jumping back and inadvertently shaking jug as flaming gas came at my face) and suffered bad 2nd degree and moderate 3rd degree burns. As my 65% polyester shirt burned it also burned my chest and right arm, large areas of 1st and 2nd degree burns, with several small spots of 3rd degree burns.

 

The whole ordeal from the time I caught fire until I was fully extinguished was about 10 seconds, 15 seconds max. I couldnt believe how much damage was done in such a short amount of time.

 

In TLD I have had times that I accidently walked through a fire and had thought "that shouldnt have lowered my condition that much" but after this experience I have a much better understanding of how much damage fire can cause in a very short amount of time. In a survival situation a small accident with fire could very easily change your situation from "easily survivable" to "not survivable." I now think the burn mechanic in TLD is incorperated very well and inflicts appropriate damage for the balance of the game.

 

And as a word of caution to others, especially the young and curious, dont use accelerants to start fires IRL. I know we all think that we are careful and that we know what we are doing and it wont happen to us... I knew what I was doing, I have lit thousands of fires with gasoline and/or diesel, I am always careful... But this time it got me, got me very badly. I'm very lucky that it wasnt much worse, I could have easily been maimed for life, or possibly even killed.

[atomic]

Oh, man that's terrible. It's good to hear that you were lucky to minimise the damage halfway. A very wise advice, and not only for the young and curious. Get well soon!

But why do you need to burn diapers? I'd get in big trouble even if I would only burn leaves in the back of my garden.

[Cattleman]

17 minutes ago, atomic said:

Oh, man that's terrible. It's good to hear that you were lucky to minimise the damage halfway. A very wise advice, and not only for the young and curious. Get well soon!

But why do you need to burn diapers? I'd get in big trouble even if I would only burn leaves in the back of my garden.

 

I live out in the boonies and burn all my trash... Diapers are from my 7 month old son.

 

Thank you for the well wishes.

[deathbydanish]

I'm sorry to hear that this happened, I hope your recovery goes well.

In the game and IRL I'm way too scared of fire, I guess the whole don't touch the stove lesson was really pounded into my head to the point where I don't even want to mess with even small fires.

[Cattleman]

2 hours ago, deathbydanish said:

I'm sorry to hear that this happened, I hope your recovery goes well.

In the game and IRL I'm way too scared of fire, I guess the whole don't touch the stove lesson was really pounded into my head to the point where I don't even want to mess with even small fires.

I'm definetally more cautious with fire now. I was born and raised a country boy and outdoorsman, so fire has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. I have never been, and am still not, afraid of fire. But I do respect it, and even more so after my accident.

I am healing good, its just a slow and sometimes painful process. The biggest problem is I'm the sole bread winner for my family, and I'm out of work for several weeks. On the plus side, I get to spend some time at home with my wife and son. Being a long haul truck driver I'm usually gone out on the road 22 out of 30 days a month. So I'm really enjoying being able to be home for awhile.

[odizzido]

Ouch, that sounds really painful. However I do think that it should depend on how much you're wearing and the fire itself. If you have two thick socks and combat boots on with deerskin pants, jeans, and two layers of thermal underwear....I don't think stepping on a fire made out of a single stick is going to do anything at all.

Obviously that's an extreme example, the other end being stuffing your naked head in a forge full of coal. But yeah, somewhere between those is where damage should start to occur.

[s7mar7in]

6 hours ago, odizzido said:

But yeah, somewhere between those is where damage should start to occur.

Thank you for the examples of the two extremes; this is often the best way to get one's mind around a concept, (+1) @odizzido.
Limiting this to the in game campfires, it has always felt very odd to accidentally step into a fire and get the burn damage...this is not something people tend to do, (tapping the wrong WASD key can be a different story).
The only time it is a problem for me now is when all is going against my survivor and then we add to this the staggered into campfire damage.
As stated above, it is probably a fair system as we tend to get much forgiveness while using the forge and even using road-flares.

One lesson I learned, (following the Vigilant Flame update), was that building a campfire near an Ice-cave / transition-cave entrance is tricky. If the player exits the cave it is often impossible to re-enter the cave without "teleporting" into the campfire, (once armed with this knowledge it is easy enough to set the campfire to the left/right of the loading-screen LZ).

Best of luck my friends.

[Mroz4k]

Hello, @Cattleman. I am really sorry to hear about your injury, and I hope you will make a full, swift recovery. Happy to hear you are enjoying the family life in the meantime - this must have been a horrifying experience for all of you. And thank you for your blessing in sharing my story with the rest of the community, and for mentioning some lessons to be learned from both of our stories  (and for being so cool even though my tone sounds quite condescending, even if it is not meant to be).

I too have a story with burns, a much less serious one, though. My story was caused by my own arrogance, by blowing into campfire to feed it oxygen from way too close, wearing the wrong kind of clothes. The price was a fairly big 2nd degree burn on my shoulder, plus a scorched eyebrow, some burnt hair and wounded pride. Here it is.

During a summer some years ago, I was working on a campfire, cant really remember why, but I think it was for an evening family event of sorts I was leaning way too close to it to blow in, when a burning debris flew up and ignited my T-shirt at my shoulder. The t-shirt was part cotton, part polyester. That day I learned how incredibly stupid of a clothing that is to wear close to fire. It caught very quickly, very brightly, and caused me a big painful 2nd degree burn. To people who never saw a t-shirt like that burning - imagine a plastic bag caught on fire, turning into a melted black glob and you know what I am talking about - only I was wearing that plastic bag, and that black glob got stuck to my skin. I ripped it off ASAP, but the burn was worse then it had to be because of it. 
Luckily, today I dont even have a scar - and I hope that is going to be the case for you as well. Just like you, I am fortunate to have been wearing glasses - the flash-out from my burning t-shirt scorched my eyebrow a bit, and some of my hair - luckily, my eye was spared.

There are some valuable lessons to be learned from both of our stories. I hope the rest of our readers will take them to heart, so they dont end up repeating them.

I learned a lot in that experience of mine. First, to wear appropriate clothes - never anything synthetic. Then, to wear face protection - my eyesight was never really good, but it is better than no sight at all. And finally - not to blow into fire from so close - that it is better to make funnel of my hands and blow slower, but steadily into the fire to feed it.

Your accident has reminded me of a lesson from my grandfather - to never pour accelerant onto an active fire. It is incredibly dangerous, the gas can catch fire faster than the gravity can spill the gasoline down. Then, the gust of wind and it can end in a disaster. It is better to douse the thing in gasoline a little bit before placing it into a fire (just wear a leather glove so you dont burn your hand). Accelerants should never come close to an active fire - they can even explode in certain circumstances. I have seen it happen first hand (at a different family event, someone forgot nearly empty can of bug repellent on a hot stone shelf next to a campfire. It blew up, luckily didnt shatter so noone was hurt.)

There is a silver lining to these stories - if others heed the warnings in them, with a bit of luck they wont happen again, to us or to other community members. It is important to learn from the mistakes we made. Despite my moreless city origins, I too had a lot of experience with fire, I have always respected it, but I was confident when handling it - in fact, I believe I was almost arrogant about it - and I paid a price for it that humbled me. But, the most important thing is that you survived it, and in time you will recover - and that is a blessing. And what does not kill us, makes us stronger, right?  

I have plenty of stories with other minor burns, too. I am clumsy that way.
 

7 hours ago, odizzido said:

If you have two thick socks and combat boots on with deerskin pants, jeans, and two layers of thermal underwear....I don't think stepping on a fire made out of a single stick is going to do anything at all.

Hehe, you would think that - and I would have agreed with you, most likely, if not for a different experience of mine. Once I was cleaning ash out of pellet furnace my mom has in the basement (for those wooden capsules of compressed wooden dust) - when a piece of burning ember fell into my boot. Burnt me a little bit, despite I was wearing a thick sock at the time. Burnt right through it. Luckily it didnt damage the boot a lot.

[Cattleman]

@Mroz4k not a rude post at all. As you have said, these experiences shouldnt have to be relived by those that will heed the words of caution they contain. And yes what doesnt kill us, makes us stronger... For sure.

 

Also as you said, bad eyesight is better than no eyesight... Had I not had my glasses on I'm certain I would have lost my left eye. I have bad 1st degree burns all around my left eye, in the shape of my glasses lens. And when I got back from the ER and found my glasses, they were still coated in jellied gasoline (old contaminated gasoline can form a jelly like substance as it ages). Eye protection is definetally a recommendation when dealing with fire.

 

And another word of caution to those that still have a desire to "play" with fire, or not respect it. If the thought of the burns and the pain they cause is not enough to deter you... The treatment required for those burns causes WAY more pain than the burns themselves... A pain I am still enduring twice a week.

 

Many thanks for the well wishes. And I'm glad you faired well through your experience.

[SneakySquid]

Best wishes Cattleman

[Dan_]

Wow, sorry to hear that @Cattleman. I wish you a speedy recovery my friend! 

As an avid barbecue perpetrator, I'd also recommend people to avoid using accelerants in any type of fire making. If for whatever reason it is imperative that you use them, please keep any fuel containers far away and improvise a throwable torch to light up the flames from a distance. Gasoline and alcohol vaporize and are really dangerous, also, avoid using sythetic fiber clothing when you do make big fires, material may melt on your skin and the injuries are dreadful. 

Once again, speedy recovery to you and I sincerely hope you are doing well by now!