A man has suffered burns after he tried to light a cigarette but ended up igniting a glass of vodka in his hand, it was learned Monday.
Officials of the Tokyo Fire Department said the freak accident occurred at a posh bar in Shinjuku-ku on June 6.
A 35-year-old man was reportedly holding a glass of 96-percent proof Polish vodka in his hand when he put a cigarette between his lips and tried to light it with his other hand.
However, the vodka caught fire and the stunned patron made matters worse by loosening his grip on the glass and dousing himself with the burning liquid.
He suffered burns to his arms, but the matter did not stop here -- the accident prompted the Tokyo Fire Department to urge Japan's national imported liquor association to warn drinkers of the dangers of hard liquors.
Fire department officials said under the Fire Service Law, any liquor of 60-percent proof or over is designated as a "dangerous material" and that four similar accidental fires were reported in the Japanese capital from 1994 to 2000.
"When you are under the influence of alcohol your ability to make decisions quickly is hampered, so we expect this kind of incident to happen again," a spokesman for the fire department said. Specifically, the department wants liquor importers to put a big "Danger" label on bottles of hard liquor.
However, members of the importers' association are reluctant to comply.
"You don't want to see big "Danger" signs on nice bottles do you? We are trying to work out the best way to inform our customers of the dangers," an official of the association said.
The association put warnings on bottles in 1996, but according to fire department officials, the warning was written in tiny letters on the back label. (Mainichi Shimbun, Japan, June 16, 2003)
Officials of the Tokyo Fire Department said the freak accident occurred at a posh bar in Shinjuku-ku on June 6.
A 35-year-old man was reportedly holding a glass of 96-percent proof Polish vodka in his hand when he put a cigarette between his lips and tried to light it with his other hand.
However, the vodka caught fire and the stunned patron made matters worse by loosening his grip on the glass and dousing himself with the burning liquid.
He suffered burns to his arms, but the matter did not stop here -- the accident prompted the Tokyo Fire Department to urge Japan's national imported liquor association to warn drinkers of the dangers of hard liquors.
Fire department officials said under the Fire Service Law, any liquor of 60-percent proof or over is designated as a "dangerous material" and that four similar accidental fires were reported in the Japanese capital from 1994 to 2000.
"When you are under the influence of alcohol your ability to make decisions quickly is hampered, so we expect this kind of incident to happen again," a spokesman for the fire department said. Specifically, the department wants liquor importers to put a big "Danger" label on bottles of hard liquor.
However, members of the importers' association are reluctant to comply.
"You don't want to see big "Danger" signs on nice bottles do you? We are trying to work out the best way to inform our customers of the dangers," an official of the association said.
The association put warnings on bottles in 1996, but according to fire department officials, the warning was written in tiny letters on the back label. (Mainichi Shimbun, Japan, June 16, 2003)
