Explosive idea

The Orange Police and Fire Deparment responded to a strange call on Barberry Lane Tuesday evening around 5:19 p.m.

Fire Marshal Tim Smith said the oil company would not deliver fuel to the residence because the owners had not cleared a path through the snow to their oil fill-up pipe.

The husband sent his wife to the gas station to get Diesel fuel for their furnace.

The woman reportedly bought regular gasoline because the gast station she went to did not have diesel. She emptied seven five-gallon cans of gasoline into the oil tank over the course of a week until suddenly the furnace did not work anymore.

A furnace repairman came out to check on the problem and was overwhelmed by the odor of gasoline, which had eaten through some parts of the furnace.

If the furnace had ignited the situation could have been devastating, possibly “taking out” the house or half the neighborhood.

Moral of the story, shovel your snow so deliverymen can get through: one simple task could save you costly repairs (and possibly your life) in the future.