# Is it safe to light a fart on fire? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 2, 2008, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-safe-to-light-a-fart-on-fire/466100 "2008-10-02T00:01:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Genericuser234](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/5daacb/32.png) [@Genericuser234](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Genericuser234)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-safe-to-light-a-fart-on-fire/466100/1 "2008-10-02T00:01:31Z")
I have no doubt that it is POSSIBLE to light a fart on fire, but is it really a safe thing to do? My friends and I have debated this for a long while( mainly cause we dont want to do it ourselves incase it isn’t safe) and when we think about it, thoughts of exploding aerosol cans that were lit on fire come to mind. Has anyone on this board sucessfully done this without incident? Or did the ones who tried blew up? ---
**Author:** ![LiveOnAPlane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3d9bf3/32.png) [@LiveOnAPlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LiveOnAPlane)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-safe-to-light-a-fart-on-fire/466100/2 "2008-10-02T00:37:04Z")
Can’t believe I’m answering this… But in the interest of public service, from personal experience, yes it is perfectly safe. The pubic service caveat is to keep your pants on! The fart will go right through them and light w/no problem. Doing it with a bare ass, though, can get your hair burned off and maybe a little scorched skin (this, second hand). Otherwise, no prob. At least not until your grown daughter asks you how you know these things (this, first hand). 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Jman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jman/32/4416_2.png) [@Jman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jman)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-safe-to-light-a-fart-on-fire/466100/3 "2008-10-02T00:42:22Z")
Wear jeans. When I was in high school I had quite the time lighting my farts. I was amazed at just how ORANGE the flames are. I found a long lighter (like those you light a fireplace with) works well. I once did it with khaki shorts on, and that was a little too hot for comfort, but with jeans it’s just a nice warm feeling. I haven’t done it in probably 12 years, but I’ve lit probably 15-20 farts. Big, orange fireball out your butt. No burns. Everyone should do it once. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![JXJohns](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jxjohns/32/469_2.png) [@JXJohns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JXJohns)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-safe-to-light-a-fart-on-fire/466100/4 "2008-10-02T00:43:02Z")
[The Blue Flame](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lighting_farts) ---
**Author:** ![Jman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jman/32/4416_2.png) [@Jman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jman)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-safe-to-light-a-fart-on-fire/466100/5 "2008-10-02T00:44:21Z")
I guess my farts had too much stuff in them…I never got blue…always bright orange. ---
**Author:** ![Jman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jman/32/4416_2.png) [@Jman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jman)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-safe-to-light-a-fart-on-fire/466100/6 "2008-10-02T00:51:26Z")
\*I do not endorse fart lighting, as there is always the chance of burns…I just never got any. ---
**Author:** ![BaileyC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/df788c/32.png) [@BaileyC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BaileyC)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-safe-to-light-a-fart-on-fire/466100/7 "2008-10-02T00:58:31Z")
> [@marochko](#): > > I have no doubt that it is POSSIBLE to light a fart on fire, but is it really a safe thing to do? My friends and I have debated this for a long while( mainly cause we dont want to do it ourselves incase it isn’t safe) and when we think about it, thoughts of exploding aerosol cans that were lit on fire come to mind. Has anyone on this board sucessfully done this without incident? Or did the ones who tried blew up? Questions like this really burn my ass… L & k, BaileyC 😉 ---
**Author:** ![drewbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drewbert/32/15890_2.png) [@drewbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewbert)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-safe-to-light-a-fart-on-fire/466100/8 "2008-10-02T00:59:51Z")
> [@JXJohns](#): > > [The Blue Flame](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lighting_farts) From your link: > [@](#): > > On 2 May 2000, a U.S. patent was issued for a “Toy gas fired missile and launcher assembly”, a product that would allow one’s “colonic gases” to be stored for later ignition to "fire the missile into space. I must have one! Who will bring this to market? [sub]\*beans not included[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Genericuser234](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/5daacb/32.png) [@Genericuser234](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Genericuser234)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-safe-to-light-a-fart-on-fire/466100/9 "2008-10-02T01:01:12Z")
So no explosions? Now im really tempted to show off how ‘badass’ i am infront of my friends. Incase you are wondering, yes i am still in high school. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-safe-to-light-a-fart-on-fire/466100/10 "2008-10-02T02:04:26Z")
If you poke about on Youtube you will find footage of Adam from Mythbusters doing it, on a special that was not aired on TV ---
**Author:** ![Peanuthead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peanuthead/32/360_2.png) [@Peanuthead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peanuthead)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-safe-to-light-a-fart-on-fire/466100/11 "2008-10-02T02:15:56Z")
> [@LiveOnAPlane](#): > > keep your pants on! The fart will go right through them I was six years old. The first “joke” I ever heard: What’s the sharpest thing in the world? I dunno. A fart. It goes through your pants without making a hole! Hilarity ensued. ---
**Author:** ![madrabbitwoman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c37758/32.png) [@madrabbitwoman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madrabbitwoman)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-safe-to-light-a-fart-on-fire/466100/12 "2008-10-02T11:50:01Z")
A friend’s father did this. Explaining how he got the burns when he arrived at the hospital must have made the A&E staffs night. He has always blaimed backdraft. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-safe-to-light-a-fart-on-fire/466100/13 "2008-10-02T12:05:35Z")
[Babe] Yes, it’s safe, it’s very safe, it’s so safe you wouldn’t believe it. [/Babe] ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-safe-to-light-a-fart-on-fire/466100/14 "2008-10-02T12:30:52Z")
In Chadwick Hansen’s book **Witchcraft in Salem** , Hansen quotes a report from 17th century Masachusetts about two farmers performing a would-be cure on a sick horse belonging to one of them. Apparently one remedy used was called “burning the mare’s fart”, and consisted of sticking a lit pipe into the horse’s anus. They did so, and released a conflagration that covered the horse’s buttocks with flame. So, if you’re gonna be trying to light the farts of methane-producing equines, especially sick ones, be careful. No word on whether the horse felt any better afterwards. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-safe-to-light-a-fart-on-fire/466100/15 "2008-10-02T12:40:18Z")
This sort of stuff is why I joined the StraightDope. 😃 **We need a farting smilie**! Who’s with me?! P.S. Along the lines that any photograph can be successfully captioned ‘Who’s farted?’, imagine all these smilies having just let rip: 🙂 😃 😕 :eek: :mad: :rolleyes: 🆒 😛 😉 :o ☹ and best of all :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Tabby\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Tabby\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tabby_Cat)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-safe-to-light-a-fart-on-fire/466100/16 "2008-10-02T13:11:12Z")
Wonder no more! 🙂 **ﻤ** 😃 **ﻤ** 😕 **ﻤ** :eek: **ﻤ** :mad: **ﻤ** :rolleyes: **ﻤ** 🆒 **ﻤ** 😛 **ﻤ** 😉 **ﻤ** :o **ﻤ** ☹ **ﻤ** :smack: **ﻤ** ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-safe-to-light-a-fart-on-fire/466100/17 "2008-10-02T13:11:20Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > If you poke about on Youtube you will find footage of Adam from Mythbusters doing it, on a special that was not aired on TV [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/BqFRBHPIE-w/hqdefault.jpg "Un-Air-able Banned Mythbuster Fart episode part 2") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqFRBHPIE-w) Heh. He said “rectify.” Not _Mythbusters_, but this guy tears it up: [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/TnH2pgtt7_I/hqdefault.jpg "VOTED #1 BEST: Fart - Human Blue Flame Thrower DIY") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnH2pgtt7_I) ---
**Author:** ![Santo\_Rugger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Santo\_Rugger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santo_Rugger)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-safe-to-light-a-fart-on-fire/466100/18 "2008-10-02T13:39:53Z")
> [@LiveOnAPlane](#): > > …Doing it with a bare ass, though, can get your hair burned off and maybe a little scorched skin (this, second hand). First hand. And by “get your hair burned off”, he (I’m assuming he, gals don’t usually make the first response to a question like this) means "all the hair on your asshole, your taint, and inner butt cheeks. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-safe-to-light-a-fart-on-fire/466100/19 "2008-10-02T13:51:03Z")
> [@LiveOnAPlane](#): > > The pubic service caveat is to keep your pants on! The fart will go right through them and light w/no problem. This imparts a pleasant toastyness to them, much like putting on a pair of socks fresh out of the dryer. ---
**Author:** ![Wiltshire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ea5d25/32.png) [@Wiltshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wiltshire)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-safe-to-light-a-fart-on-fire/466100/20 "2008-10-02T14:25:18Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > So, if you’re gonna be trying to light the farts of methane-producing equines, especially sick ones, be careful. Equines are nothing in comparison to the capacity of bovine flamethrowers. > [@](#): > > [tollbit-host.com](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/main.jhtml?xml=/health/2004/04/06/hsic06.xml) > > “Cow burns down farm”. This described how a Dutch veterinary surgeon had ill-advisedly lit a match to test the gas issuing from a tube that he had passed up the cow’s rectum into its badly swollen abdomen. > > This produced a jet of flame that set fire to bales of hay in the barn. The resulting fire engulfed the barn, then spread and burned down the entire farm, causing damage estimated at £45,000. The cow apparently “escaped with shock”, as indeed did the vet, although he also had to pay a £140 fine. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-safe-to-light-a-fart-on-fire/466100.md?page=2)