Lava Lamp Left on Stove Explodes, Kills Man

Lava Lamp Left on Stove Explodes, Kills Man

Wed Dec 1, 9:12 AM ET Oddly Enough - Reuters

SEATTLE (Reuters) - A Washington state man who placed a lava lamp on a hot stove died when the lamp exploded and a glass shard pierced his heart, police said on Tuesday.

Phillip Quinn, 24, was found dead in his trailer home on Sunday night in Kent, about 15 miles south of Seattle.

"There appeared to have been an explosion that was centered on the stove top. There were glass fragments all over, embedded in the walls," said Paul Petersen, a Kent police spokesman.

A lava lamp features blobs of wax in liquid that rise and fall in a container when heated by a bulb at the base of the lamp.

Quinn was probably standing in front of the lamp when it exploded, then stumbled into his bedroom and died, Petersen said, citing a medical examiner's report.