Are you afraid of spiders?
Although we all have different phobias that send us over the edge, few things are as universal as a fear of spiders. Even for those of us who don’t like bugs all that much, spiders are often in an entirely different league. With that said, most of us probably haven’t had our fear of spiders land us in that much trouble—if we stay out of their way, they tend to stay out of ours.
Unfortunately, that was not the case for a recent story out of Fresno, California.
It all started when an unidentified man was tasked with watching his parents’ home while they were out of town.
Typically, housesitting involves very little effort on the house-sitter’s part. All you have to do is sit tight, don’t mess with anything, clean up after yourself and lock up when you’re done. For unknown reasons, however, this man was unable to follow those guidelines. Things got out of control when he went into the garage and noticed some Black Widow spiders. For those who don’t know, these spiders are considered the most venomous in North America—and as such are pretty dangerous to human beings.
That’s when the man decided to take drastic action.
Instead of swatting them or waving them away, the man decided to fire up a blowtorch to scare them off.
Though the details of what happened next remain unclear, things got out of control quickly. Needless to say, the fire from the blowtorch didn’t only affect the spiders—it also caught the house on fire. In no time at all, the fire had spread to the inside of the house as well. In a panic, the man dialed 911 for help.
All told, it was registered as a two-alarm fire and 29 firefighters were dispatched to the scene.
While nobody was hurt as a result of the fire, the house received some extensive damage.
After the flames had moved inside, fire damage spread up through the second story of the house and even into the attic. It wasn’t long before all kinds of local news outlets were on the scene to report on the bizarre incident—as it turns out, the story was even picked up by international digital outlets like Mashable.
Because the story was so strange, it attracted plenty of commentary from readers on the internet.
Because everyone can relate to the fear of spiders, a few Twitter users were sympathetic to the man’s plight:
Couldn’t have more respect & admiration for the dude who used a blowtorch in order to kill all the black widow spiders he found while house sitting his parents house. #BurntTheHouseDown4Real
— Dayna Weber (@DaynaWeber) October 25, 2018
Doesn't everyone use a blowtorch to kill spiders ?? https://t.co/PCXJ2MJpGs
— Jeannine Edwards (@jeanninee12) October 25, 2018
Others weighed in with more helpful ways to keep black widows away from your home:
You should use a combination of peppermint oil, water and vinegar in a $2.99 plastic spray bottle from Wal-Mart. Natural spider deterrence. No blowtorch needed.
— Craig Corsini (@CraigCorsini) October 25, 2018
Still, we doubt that the man’s parents were as understanding as the internet seemed to be!
Although nobody was harmed in the process, it remains to be seen whether the spiders were scared away or not.
In any event, we should note here that it’s never a good idea to take a blowtorch to your own house, nobody how dire the circumstances. As always, the best way to keep yourself safe from something is to learn more about it. In the case of black widow spiders, it’s true that their bites can be dangerous to humans but with some asterisks attached.
Male widows rarely bite humans and while female widows may bight defensively, they’re typically easy to avoid.
Anyone who is bitten may notice symptoms like fever, higher than normal blood pressure, nausea and sweating. In these cases, getting professional medical attention as soon as possible is important—though there are rarely fatalities from bites like these.
And of course: if you notice black widows around your home, leave the extermination to the professionals!
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