Roaches Can Survive Anything

January 12, 2005 9:38 AM

Woman Blows Up Home, Roaches Survive ... A 20-something woman in Jersey City, NJ, had a roach infestation, so she bought a few roach foggers and set them off in her kitchen. She then walked out of the house just before the pilot light on her stove ignited the fog. The resulting blast blew out a window, messed up the kitchen, and -- in a lucky break that saved her from injury -- slammed the door shut behind her. The truly sad part is that the roaches survived both the fogging and the explosion, according to firefighters who put out the blaze.
posted by nathanrudy (39 comments total)

both the roaches and the 20 something woman from jersey survived: the roaches survived the blast and the woman survived her stupidity.
posted by three blind mice at 9:52 AM on January 12, 2005

The truely sad part if this idiot is still out there not reading labels for potentially dangerous products.
posted by terrapin at 9:54 AM on January 12, 2005

I love the reporters name - Michaelangelo Conte.
posted by fluffycreature at 9:58 AM on January 12, 2005

If only she had watched episode 23 of Mythbusters.
posted by ilsa at 10:00 AM on January 12, 2005

This seems like a good place to follow up on an old AskMefi question and say that I still have roaches.
posted by brownpau at 10:02 AM on January 12, 2005

I've done battle with New Jersey roaches before, no little explosion is going to phase them.
posted by octothorpe at 10:08 AM on January 12, 2005

The article mentions "garbage bags [plural] in the kitchen."
posted by Morrigan at 10:09 AM on January 12, 2005

I've heard it said that roaches could survive nuclear war. What chance does a little kitchen explosion have against them? What chance does anything have?
posted by cali at 10:16 AM on January 12, 2005

Attack of the Mutant Giant Madagascar Cockroaches - in which a small New England town flees in fear from experiments gone horribly awry at a nearby Army research base ...
posted by adamg at 10:25 AM on January 12, 2005

"Firefighters sealed the windows with plastic, but the woman was forced to stay elsewhere last night."

Just how'd that conversation go?

Forced?
posted by Busithoth at 10:29 AM on January 12, 2005

brownpau -- What recommendations did you end up trying?
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 10:32 AM on January 12, 2005

This is not the first time this has happened

"According to the California Department of Pesticide Regulation (CDPR), a number of such explosions occur every year, typically when homeowners use too many foggers and don't shut off ignition sources (particularly pilots lights in ovens, stoves, and water heaters)."
posted by aerify at 10:33 AM on January 12, 2005

Yep, roaches and Twinkies... that's all that'll be left after the fallout.
Hmmm. I wonder if the roaches will get sick of Twinkies? I prefer Ding Dongs, myself.
posted by miss lynnster at 10:35 AM on January 12, 2005

Maybe should just sell them?
posted by rachsumat at 10:35 AM on January 12, 2005

Heh. On the DVD of Fight Club, Chuck Palahniuk talks on the voiceover about how the exploding apartment scene was based on some friends who tried to peel a linoleum kitchen floor by soaking it in gasoline. The compressor clicked on in the fridge and blew up the kitchen. My own shameful personal incident involves a gas stove, a styrofoam container and some turpentine.
posted by Armitage Shanks at 10:35 AM on January 12, 2005

I say we nuke it from orbit. Its the only way to be sure.
posted by elwoodwiles at 10:49 AM on January 12, 2005

Only one way exists to get rid of roaches, remove all food sources.
Period.
It requires a high level of cleanliness and proper sealing of food stuffs.
Might take a while but it works.
Oh, and no nasty neighbors or you're doomed to fail.
posted by nofundy at 10:54 AM on January 12, 2005

Only one way exists to get rid of roaches, remove all food sources.

Yes, but unfortunately roaches can and do subsist on a number of items that we don't even consider to be food.

They prefer starchy and sugary material, but will eat:
milk,
cheese
meats
pastry
flour
meal
chocolate
book bindings
postage stamp and envelope glue
inner linings of shoes
dead insects
other cockroaches
human waste
finger and toenails of sleeping humans
posted by xhepera at 11:24 AM on January 12, 2005

finger and toenails of sleeping humans

Great. Thanks. I won't be sleeping tonight.
posted by papercake at 12:00 PM on January 12, 2005

finger and toenails of sleeping humans

Jesus, you cruel bastard. At least I won't have to cut them anymore.
posted by The God Complex at 12:42 PM on January 12, 2005

Think of all the vacuuming they do. For free!
posted by ginz at 12:43 PM on January 12, 2005

xhepera - so home come some places have 'em and some don't, I mean there's humans living everywhere with the attached food sources but not always with roaches?
posted by scheptech at 12:58 PM on January 12, 2005

The also like earwax. My cousin works for the NYC Health Dept as one of the school system's nurses. She says you won't believe how many kids a year she gets with roaches in their ears.
posted by FunkyHelix at 12:59 PM on January 12, 2005

finger and toenails of sleeping humans

Great. Thanks. I won't be sleeping tonight.

LMAO. actually that makes 2 of us who ain't sleepin' tonight. and I don't even have roaches (knock on wood).

i honestly don't know how people put up with roaches. i hope i never have to deal with city/apartment dwelling ever ever again.

why doesn't this woman MOVE far far away?
posted by tu11ym0n at 12:59 PM on January 12, 2005

The also like earwax. My cousin works for the NYC Health Dept as one of the school system's nurses. She says you won't believe how many kids a year she gets with roaches in their ears.

sweet mother of god!!! i think i just threw up in my mouth...

say it ain't so
posted by tu11ym0n at 1:01 PM on January 12, 2005

I just threw up in my ear. Just in case those little guys needed something to snack on.
posted by The God Complex at 1:11 PM on January 12, 2005

how about nose wax? someone i know was sleeping and woke up when ... (we all wish i was kidding...)
posted by armacy at 1:12 PM on January 12, 2005

"Think of all the vacuuming they do. For free!"

But ginz, roaches also shit all over: germy little parasite-carrying balls of filth that lots of people are also allergic too.
posted by davy at 1:46 PM on January 12, 2005

The truely sad part if this idiot is still out there not reading labels for potentially dangerous products.

Maybe she went to public school in a city and so can't read. The articles I've been seeing on the school system in my hometown are frightening: not only are they unsuuccessful at their stated goals, the buildings are falling apart to where they're often cold and wet and sometimes dangerous -- the criteria for having school seems to be if the cafeteria can dispense the subsidized lunches. (Oh and by the way, it's "TRULY" -- not an E anywhere.)

By the way, roaches also love the insulation on electrical wires inside TVs and such. I thought I left 'em behind during one literally cross-country move, but at least one pregnant roach survived inside my alarm clock.
posted by davy at 1:59 PM on January 12, 2005

Davy, what are the parasites that live in roach shit called? That's an insult I want to have available to me next time I need it.
posted by The Bellman at 2:06 PM on January 12, 2005

I hate it when I set out to debunk, but Cecil sets me straight.
posted by mudpuppie at 2:40 PM on January 12, 2005

Davy, what are the parasites that live in roach shit called?

Googling for "roach parasite faeces" turned up a mainly bunch of scholarly PDFs and public health handouts; I gather roach shit commonly has pinworm eggs, protozoa (giardia, cryptosporidia, etc.), gobs of various bacteria, etc. etc.
posted by davy at 3:42 PM on January 12, 2005

I wrote: "balls of filth that lots of people are also allergic too."

That's "TO", you moron, only one O in that homophone. Some public pedant YOU are.
posted by davy at 3:50 PM on January 12, 2005

Mudpuppie, I am sooo sorry I read that Straight Dope answer. In fact, I'm kinda regretting this whole thread. Thank you all. Let's all stay up on #mefi this evening when we can't sleep.
posted by theora55 at 4:02 PM on January 12, 2005

If roaches are the only things that will survive a nuclear blast, why don't we build our homes out of roaches? I'm going to go home and start cultivating my roach farm right now.
posted by Fontbone at 4:11 PM on January 12, 2005

Build a home out of roaches? I don't think I could live in that. I'll just use them to build a bomb shelter.
posted by Ironwolf at 9:59 PM on January 12, 2005

The only time I've had roaches was when we lived in NYC. The only good thing to come out of that disgusting little experience was when my girlfriend at the time went for an interview at a very exclusive fashion magazine: when she unzipped her portfolio, a roach ran out. They ended up hiring her partly because they felt sorry for her.
posted by sixdifferentways at 11:20 PM on January 12, 2005

My sense of well-being and contentment has deteriorated significantly through my reading this thread. Damn you, nathanrudy, damn you!
posted by IshmaelGraves at 11:34 PM on January 12, 2005

mudpuppie, that is horrible. I don't know if I'll ever be the same after reading that. The next time my ears itch I'm going to FREAK OUT.
posted by widdershins at 9:13 AM on January 13, 2005