Reply to fredfredfred's Post: your responder said yes to my question but the artical that he linked me to did not support his answer. I need scientific proof that a cigarette can light gasoline for legal purposes in an up comming court case.

Reply to fredfredfred's Post: This still does not help. The expert wittness in this case was wrong as I have info from Exxon oil corp. that clearly states that the flash point of gas is -40 deg.f and the autoignition temperature is 482 deg.f . I also know that the outter area of the fire on a cigarette temp is 282 deg.f and the inner area area or center area of the fire on a cigarette can reach as high as 784 deg.f so keep trying guys.

Reply to John Baker's Post: O.K. here are the details: 3 years ago I was attacked by a neighbor who was drunk and stoned on drugs. Just before he came across my front yard I had poored some gasoline into a 1 lb. coffee can to clean some tools that were very greasy from working on a semi truck that I used to own. This was on a hot June day and the gas had been sitting out in the sun for about 15 or 20 minutes. I did not wish to harm this man because he used to be a friend but because of his continued substance abuse I was forced to ask him not to come around my home any more. The spot where I was prepairing to clean the tools was at the base of a 3 foot high retaining wall in my driveway. As he came towards me I repeatedly told him to get out of my yard and to stay away from me. When he got within 6 or 8 feet of me I threw the can of gas at him hoping to hit him in the face thus alowing me time to get away form him and call the police, I was boxed in. The can of gas hit him in the belly area and he continued to come at me and leaped off the wall on top of me. I had a cigarette in my other hand that I had lit just a few minutes before this all happended when I had gone back into my basement to gather the tools for cleaning. When he jumped off the wall I put my right hand up to block him and realized I still had the cigarette in my right hand. It was smashed into his left shoulder and the sparks "rained" down to his belly area and we both went up in flames. I received third degree burns on my right arm and shoulder and he was burned over 60% of his entire body. He never recovered from this and later died. Now I have been charged with voluntary manslaughter becayse the state fire marshal says that a cigarette will not light gasoline. They say that I had to of had a lighter but my lighter was found in my basement with my cigarettes un-scorched or any other signs of burns on it. It was a bic lighter and in that kind of heat there should hav been some signs of burns or something. Now there was one wittness across the street who heard me tell him to get out of my yard but she is uncertain has to wether or not he was on fire before he jumped off the wall or after. And she never even saw me catch on fire. Now you know the whole story in a nut shell. This is a small town and his mother is the cousin to the county sherrif so you can guess how important this info is to me. If I can locate "verifiable" proof and most likely someone who can come to court to prove my case it will be worth more than $5.00. I don't have a lot of money and the court appointed a public defender but I will do the best I can if I can get the proof and an expert who can testify that the fire marshal is wrong. Go to any gas station and read the sign on the pumps. If this fire marshal is right then everyone in America has been lied to for a very long time. Thankyou