Man Tame Fire!

I spent yesterday at a London Territorial Army base (Infantry division) being trained as a Fire Warden. Quite apart from being a fascinating morning, I learnt something very interesting... it's possible to start a fire by taking a scouring pad (the ones you use for washing up) and touching it simultaneously to the + and - terminals of a square battery! The teacher showed us how it's done. It looked like loads of fun.

In fact, I may well remove the 9v battery from my smoke alarm at home so I can try it myself tonight.