FIRE!!

So I get my backpacking stuff out last night to get ready for our Mammoth Cave NP trip this weekend. So I also get out my ancient Peak 1 stove and the new Penny alcohol stove that  Matthew was cool enough to send me. I place both the stove on an old warped cookie sheet and fill them up with their appropriate fuels on the picnic table on my covered deck.

I then pump up and light my Peak1, the pump is pretty tight, but it's working good. I then light the Penny stove. It flames a bit then dies. I add another ounce of fuel then light again. Same thing. Evidently I'm not leaving enough fuel on the top stove to evap and pressurize the top ports. So I add more on top and light. Voila, it lights up bright then blooms into a blue flaming flower. Evidently there was a lil' bit of fuel spilled fuel because a trail of flame then runs down the cookie sheet to under the Peak1. And it's a BIG flame. Like 2 feet tall and engulfing my Peak1. %$*&%(#!! So what happens next is me blowing furiously under my peak1 to blow these flames out before full tank of white gas EXPLODES. After 10 seconds, an eternity of panic, I succeed and getting the spill fire out and then extinguish both stoves. Right as I sit down, spent from adrenaline, my wife steps out "Did I see flames a second ago? The cats ran to the front all panicked."

"No, sweetie, everything's fine."