Collecting Rocks on a Beach Turns Dangerous

[gee]

A San Clemente woman remains hospitalized with severe burns she suffered after rocks collected from an Orange County beach ignited in the pocket of her cargo shorts, authorities said.

The 44-year-old woman, who has not been identified, went to San Onofre State Beach with her family on Saturday, where her children collected colored rocks. The woman took the rocks from her children and put them in her pocket. After the family returned home, the rocks combusted in her right pocket, said Capt. Marc Stone of the Orange County Fire Authority.

Stone said paramedics arrived to find that the woman had suffered second- and third-degree burns from her right thigh down to her right knee, as well as second-degree burns on her right hand. Her husband also had burns on his hands after attempting to help her.

Stone said the rocks are being examined by county health officials to determine what caused them to ignite.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/page/2/

These were collected on San Onofre Beach by San Onofre Nuclear Plant. Hmmmm....

[OMalley]

Wow, wonder if we'll ever hear the real story behind this.

[Pete Bondurant]

Didn't I see this on an episode of Everybody Loves Raymond?

[Rydo Larsson]

Wow, wonder if we'll ever hear the real story behind this.

I would be very interested in finding out what this was aswell never heard anything like it

[TheMorningStar]

Phosphorous or Potassium

[gee]

It is highly unlikely that the troubled San Onofre nuclear plant is the source of the flammable substance that caused some colorful beach rocks to burst into flames in a pocket of a woman's cargo shorts, leaving her with second and third-degree burns.

Scientists weren't so quick, however, to rule out the Marine base at nearby Camp Pendleton as a source.

"I would be very doubtful about that possibility," James Earthman, a professor of chemical engineering and material science at UC Irvine, said of the possibility that the rocks, which showed traces of a "phosphorous substance" after tests, could have been somehow contaminated by the nearby nuclear facility.

Officials with Southern California Edison, which oversees the San Onofre facility, dismissed the chance of any link with the burning rocks.

"San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station does not use this chemical form at the plant nor is it a byproduct of the plant's operation," Jennifer Manfe, a company spokeswoman, said in a statement.

Another possible source could have been Camp Pendleton, which hugs the north San Diego coastline near the state beach where the women and her children gathered the rocks. Earthman would not rule out that possibility.

A Marine spokesman said Friday there is no indication the flammable material came from anything being used during training at the base. But, he added, the base is prepared to help in an investigation, if asked.

The San Clemente woman, identified as Lyn Hiner in an interview Friday with ABC News, remains hospitalized with second- and third-degree burns after the colored rocks her daughters collected Saturday at San Onofre State Beach ignited hours later in the pocket of her cargo shorts, after she had returned home.

"We were taking about who was going to pick up the babysitter," Hiner recounted in the interview on "Good Morning America."

"And all of a sudden, something on my leg just sort of started to bother me, so I started thinking it was a bug bite, so I slapped it," he said. "And the next thing I know my pants were on fire."

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lano...ng-rocks-.html

[biteme]

That there is one hot woman

[cubby]

Earthman.......Really?

[sheevaa]

You think maybe she lied? *grins*

[Alf]

Phosphorous or Potassium

I'd be inclined to discount the alkali metals, given the environment the rocks were collected in and the stereotypical reaction between the alkali metals and water. Phosphorus? Possibly. Phosphorus and sulfur? That I'd buy.

--Al

[AngelFire]

I don't know what those rocks were or where they came from. I just know I will NEVER pick anything up from the beach unless I KNOW for sure what it is. Been on DD way too long.

[TheMorningStar]

The beach rocks that ignited and seriously injured a San Clemente mother earlier this month were covered with an elevated level of phosphate, Orange County health officials announced Thursday.
But how the chemical got on the rocks, which burst into flames in a pocket of a woman's cargo shorts, remains a mystery.
The woman, identified as Lyn Hiner, told authorities she slipped the rocks into her pocket after her children collected them on the sand at San Onofre State Beach.
The rocks had been sent to a state laboratory for testing, and results released Thursday confirmed elevated traces of the inorganic chemical, an agency spokeswoman said in an emailed statement.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lano...s-confirm.html

Some mystery, there is a military base right there. Durrrrrrrr

[Dakota Valkyrie]

Since the land is owned by the United States Marine Corps, operated by State Park Rangers, and the rocks were located in the County of San Diego, Thompson said any further investigation is up to each of the agencies.
[...]

Ken Shea, a professor who teaches organic chemistry at UCI, said the phosphorous found on the rocks is man-made and likely comes from munitions or flares. Shea said that phosphorous is normally stored in water.

"Only when it's out of water and exposed to oxygen, it can spontaneously burst into flames," he said.

Shea, who hasn't examined the rocks, said they could have been slowly coated with a crust over time. That crust could have prevented the rocks from bursting into flames. When Hiner put the two rocks into her pocket with others, they could have been bumped or rubbed which could have caused the crust to rub off and them to suddenly ignite.

Shea said the incident is likely an isolated incident.
[...]

http://www.ocregister.com/news/rocks...san-hiner.html

[62julietandvoid]

Interesting. When they repaired a slip near my home I was down there often after the workers left in the evenings. Found several keeper rocks and what I think is slag glass. they dug down 20+ feet so I wanted to see what come out. Wasn't long before I noticed my hair falling out in spots (alopecia) but I think its the tractional form. I am a hardcore rockhound lol

[malq]

This has happened before. On netflicks there is a show on spontaneous combustion. a woman collected shells in her pocket and same thing. She burst into flames and was seriously injured. It was interesting as hell, but yes it has something to do with an organic compound reacting with water. I'll see if i can find it.

Found it, it was on "is it real" sodium from fireworks

Another theory hypothesizes that chemical reactions involving clothing can cause spontaneous human combustion. In exploring SHC in its television series, "Is it Real?" the National Geographic cited the case of a woman whose clothes suddenly caught fire. A fireworks display on a beach may have covered the area in sodium. A woman collected a shell from the beach and later, put a wet handkerchief in the same pocket as the shell. The TV broadcast offered the explanation that the sodium-covered shell interacted with the moist fabric releasing hydrogen, which then self-ignited5.

http://www.paranormal-encyclopedia.c...an-combustion/