Bizarre Honda Civic explosion triggered by trunk remote

Tue, 29 Jan 2013

In most states, it's illegal to transport oxygen and acetylene tanks inside of a closed cabin vehicle. Why? Ask the owner of this 2012 Honda Civic.

Jackie Sugrue's boyfriend, a plumber, left his welding rig inside the vehicle's trunk while the couple went shopping. Unbeknownst to him, the acetylene tank was slowly leaking, filling the whole interior with highly flammable vapors. When the wife hit the remote trunk release, the mechanism generated enough of a charge to ignite the fumes, causing the gas inside to explode. The resulting carnage ripped the little Civic open like can of Pabst at a frat party.

Amazingly, neither Sugrue, her boyfriend, nor anyone else was harmed in the blast, despite the fact that a gentleman in the parking lot next to the Honda was loading his vehicle when the eruption occurred. Vehicles nearby where damaged in the blast, and Sugrue said her trunk lid went flying when she hit the remote. Check out a local news report on the incident in the video below.

By Zach Bowman