New
Zealand farmers hate the invasive weed known as ragwort, as it is
poison to horses and cattle. The old method of using sheep and goats to
clear it no longer worked during an infestation in the 1930s. Luckily,
modern technology provided farmers with a new miracle herbicide that
eliminated ragwort. The problem was that it was new, and that meant it
came with unintended consequences, like exploding pants.
One
of the earliest cases of exploding pants, and the one most closely
associated with the phenomenon, involved a farmer named Richard Buckley,
who made the local news after some of his pants exploded in his house.
After wearing them to spray the sodium chlorate, he hung them in front
of the fire to dry out. Out of nowhere, his trousers exploded with a
bang. According to a news report from the day, he was able to snag his
now flaming pants and throw them out onto the grass where small
explosions continued to erupt in the garment. Buckley was alarmed, but
unharmed.
Around the same time, similar reports of spontaneously
combusting pants began to appear, and not all of them were as harmless
as Buckley’s. One report claimed that a farmer was riding his horse when
the friction caused his pants to begin to smolder right there in the
saddle. Another pair of pants were hanging out to dry when they suddenly
burst into flames. Then there were the unfortunate souls who happened
to be wearing their pants when the chemical reaction got started. Some
survived with serious burns, while at least a handful of farmers died
from the ignitions. One person, referenced in Watson’s paper, died after
lighting a match in his electricity-free home, just trying to check on
his baby.
Eventually the phenomena was connected with the herbicide, and steps were taken to prevent it from happening. During
Pants Week at Atlas Obscura, we get to read
the story of New Zealand's exploding pants.
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