Don’t shake hands with Fred Clewer. Static electricity from the Australian man burned a hole in the carpet of a local business in Warrnambool, Victoria, more than 3/4 of an inch in diameter, according to Associated Press.
“It sounded almost like a firecracker or something like that,” Clewer told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. about his entering the business. “Within say around five minutes the carpet started to erupt.”
Fire officials said Clewer had built up about 30,000 volts of electricity in his jacket during a walk around town. He reportedly scorched a piece of plastic in his car after he left the building whose carpet he burned.
This alarms me somewhat because I used to have a bad static electricity problem. It was more pronounced when I lived in the drier climate of Central Texas. But during the less humid times of the year I would shock the crap out of myself getting in and out of cars or opening the door at work. I used to spray myself with some kind of anti-static spray that helped somewhat. I also grounded myself with my vehicle key before touching something metallic that might shock me. I’ve had bright, lightning-like sparks fly between the key and the door that were probably 1/8 of an inch long.
I’d really hate to walk into someone’s home and start a fire on their rug. Wouldn’t that be embarrassing?