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Police in South Korea will seek an arrest warrant for a woman who used an “improvised flamethrower” to kill cockroaches she found in her apartment, according to reports. One resident of the apartment building lost their life after her attempt to exterminate the cockroaches resulted in a blaze.
This occurred in the city of Osan in South Korea and somewhat surprisingly this is not the first time in recent years that someone has torched their domicile trying to rid it of cockroaches. Back in 2023, a Japanese man blew up his apartment trying to get rid of a single cockroach.
‘Kill it with fire’ has for decades been such a popular phrase on the Internet. It is credited back to 2006 according to Urban Dictionary but was likely in circulation long before. But it is a phrase often used in response to a user wanting to unsee something or in response to a post they deeply dislike.
South Korean Woman Burns Building Trying To Kill Cockroach
According to a report from the BBC News, South Korean police have said they will seek an arrest warrant for the woman reported to be in her 20s. The report states this was not the first time the woman has used the “improvised flamethrower” (lighter + aerosol) to kill insects in the apartment building.
The fire spread from her apartment to the rest of the building and a woman living on the fifth floor with her husband and a two-month old baby lose her life. The BBC News report states that 8 other residents of the building suffered from smoke inhalation due to the fire.
Fire is never the answer
Back in 2022, a man in Springville, Utah started a 60-acre wildfire trying to burn a single spider with a lighter.
In this latest incident, there was an entirely unnecessary and preventable loss of life. There were 32 residential units in the building as well as commercial shops on the first floor. Thankfully, the fire was extinguished before the flames spread further.