A California man who reportedly attempted to kill a spider using a torch lighter wound up destroying more than a small insect.
The Redding Record Searchlight reports that the unidentified resident of the Redding apartment complex tried to kill a wolf spider with a torch lighter but ended up setting fire to a mattress.
Fire officials say the fire spread from the mattress to several flags and curtains inside the man’s bedroom. It also torched a bedroom closet but did not spread to any other apartments in the complex.
KMOV reports that other residents unsuccessfully attempted to extinguish the fire with a garden hose before the fire department came.
Firefighters put out the blaze and no injuries were reported. However, the fire caused $11,000 in damage to the resident’s apartment and forced residents to find another place to live after fire officials deemed the apartment “uninhabitable.”
The Redding Fire Department posted a friendly reminder to Facebook warning those trying to kill spiders not to use fire to exterminate them.
“Call an exterminator if you have spiders… and don’t try to burn them,” read the post from the fire department.
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