A California man thought he nabbed a spider by setting it on fire on Sunday, but the eight-legged critter, while its body was engulfed in flames, ended up torching his apartment by scurrying on a mattress that quickly went ablaze.
An unidentified man who lived in a Redding apartment was trying to kill a “huge wolf spider” just before setting the apartment on fire, Lyndsey Wisegarver, who lived in the home, told
Redding’s Record Searchlight. Wolf spiders are venomous insects that have hairy bodies and can be more than 1-inch long.
The man took a torch lighter and tried to kill the spider by setting it on fire. But the fast-moving arachnid dashed onto a nearby mattress while it was on fire, spreading the flames onto the furniture and drapes.
The residents attempted to put the fire out with a garden hose, but with no luck. They evacuated the building and waited for firefighters to arrive. Firefighters extinguished the flames in the bedroom in 20 minutes — before it engulfed the entire building.
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