Warning: Objects in the micro may appear hotter than they are!

WOMAN DIES AFTER MICROWAVING HER CLOTHING: October 20, 2005

AN elderly blind woman who lived alone was burned and died after trying to microwave clothing at her home in Newcastle, north of Sydney.

Warning labels, warning labels, warning labels. What we need is more warning labels. A simple label, such as the one below, could have averted this tragedy:

Of course this label would have to be in Braille.

A family member found the body of the 86-year-old woman in the dining room of her Birmingham Gardens home about 5pm (AEST) yesterday.Authorities believe the woman removed the clothes from the microwave, not realising they were on fire, and set her nightgown alight in the process, a police spokeswoman said."not realising they were on fire".

I wanted to repeat this for two reasons. 1) it has that British spelling that makes me giggle and 2) how is it that you don't notice the smoke and heat that is produced by the rapid oxidation of combustible material?

Here are three simple things to look for to help you determine if something is a fire:
1) It has a cloud of dust-like material in the surrounding air, usually darker than your normal everyday air (unless you live in Toronto) and it smells "like something burning".
2) It gives off light, glowing or flickering just like that thing on the end of a lit match.
3) It radiates enough heat that you develop blisters or dark, char-like patches on your skin when you touch or get close to it.

She suffered severe burns.It is unclear why she put the clothes in the microwave, but police do not believe she was trying to dry them.A police spokeswoman said it was uncertain whether the woman was confused or had dementia, but "from our information she didn't actually put the clothes in the microwave to dry them".

I have it from a reliable source (Myself), that she had just taken them out of the freezer and was trying to defrost them. Damn, it is hard to believe the police just "overlooked" this possibility. I smell a conspiracy (which, by coincidence, also smells "like something burning").

The woman lived alone but family members visited her twice a day to check on her welfare, the spokeswoman said.The woman is believed to have died mid-morning yesterday, after being visited by a relative earlier in the day."She had been dead for several hours when discovered", the spokeswoman said.