Elderly woman’s stove obliterated by ‘rocket’ can of disinfectant spray

When an elderly woman left home to quickly duck down to the shops, she didn’t expect that by the time she got back, her stovetop would be obliterated.

Not only was the appliance completely destroyed, but there was also a perfectly cylindrical hole in the roof above it – a detail one of her neighbors pointed out when he came to investigate the source of a deafening bang.

The woman, in her 70s, had popped the oven on before leaving with the intention of preheating it so she could get straight to cooking when she returned.

What she didn’t realize however was that she had also turned on the stovetop, upon which she had left a mostly full can of antibacterial Glen20 spray.

While she was out, the highly flammable can got so heated that it blasted up with such force that it not only went through the ceiling, but straight out the roof.

“It shot straight up like a rocket,” said Jake Whalan, director of DYAD Constructions, which was called in to address the aftermath.

The explosion unfolded at the woman’s Redcliffe home, in southeast Queensland, a few months ago.

“It actually happened in the morning but she initially just thought her cooktop exploded. It wasn’t until her neighbor came that they worked out what had happened,” Mr. Whalan said.

“He looked up and saw a hole and started scratching his head.”

The pair of them then established it was the Glen20 can that caused the damage and despite a lengthy search outside, they were unable to locate the can.

DYAD Constructions disconnected the appliance to ensure no further damage could be done, with the repair and replacement ultimately being taken care of by the woman’s insurance.

When investigating the mess, though, the woman’s roof was found to contain asbestos which meant she had to endure a longer wait before she could return home.

Mr. Whalan said the vacuum cleaner she used to clean up what had fallen from the ceiling even had to be thrown away.

“This was definitely one of the more interesting jobs we’ve been called out to,” he said.

“It’s one of the stories that gets told over and over again.”

When he followed up with the woman a few months later, she said her insurance had “got everything sorted.”