NFPA Journal - March/April 2018 - 15

M A R K E T P L AC E

'A SUPER TERRIBLE IDEA'
AS ELON MUSK'S FLAMETHROWERS DRAW CRITICISM,
THE COMPANY ARGUES THE DEVICES ARE DESIGNED
TO BE "THRILLING WITHOUT DANGER"
By Angelo Verzoni
ebruary was arguably the best of times and the
worst of times for Elon Musk, the high-profile
entrepreneur responsible for Tesla, SpaceX,
and a host of other ventures.
Early in the month, Musk enjoyed a wildly
successful SpaceX launch that set his Tesla Roadster on an
interplanetary orbit. At the same time, he was incurring
the wrath of safety advocates who were not amused by the
launch of another Musk product: a flamethrower
sold to consumers for $500 a pop to raise money
for The Boring Company, a tunneling business.
The firm made headlines when it sold 20,000
of the devices in just four days, drawing heated
criticism from some in wildfire-ravaged California. The company, on the other hand, says the
criticism is misguided because there are more
dangerous products widely available online.
Leading the charge against The Boring
Company's devices, which emit a roughly twofoot-long blue-orange flame, has been Miguel
Santiago, a Democratic assemblyman representing parts of
Los Angeles, who said he intends to pursue a ban on the
product. "If this is real, I'm outraged and you should be too,"
Santiago tweeted on January 29. "If this is a joke, then it's
a terribly insensitive one given that we're coming off of the
worst wildfire season in history. Either way: NOT FUNNY.
NOT GONNA HAPPEN."
In an interview with CBS Los Angeles, Orange County Fire
Authority Captain Larry Kurtz also said the product was a
bad idea. "Unfortunately accidents do happen and with a
product that's so easily transportable and creates a two-foot
length flame, it's only a matter of time until we really have a
tragedy that's going to unfold here," he said.
California experienced its deadliest wildfires ever in October, when a series of blazes tore through wine country, killing
44 people and razing thousands of homes. NFPA Journal
reported on the fires in "Nowhere to Hide" in the November/
December issue, and again in "Build. Burn. Repeat?" in the
January/February issue.
On Twitter, Santiago's tweet didn't find much support. "It's
just a giant blowtorch and it meets all standards," one person
said. Another commented, "It's not even a flamethrower by

THE BORING COMPANY

any reasonable definition. A flamethrower shoots a flammable liquid at extended distances. This is just a propane torch
that shoots a couple feet and will hurt absolutely no one. You
can buy far more dangerous things at your neighborhood
Wal-Mart." According to California law, The Boring Company's devices aren't technically flamethrowers, which the law
defines as devices that can propel a burning stream of flammable liquid at least 10 feet.

HOT COMMODITY
Elon Musk's Boring Company sold out of
flamethrowers (priced at $500) in just four
days when they went on sale in January.

A Boring Company spokesman shared similar sentiments
in an email to NFPA Journal. "The Boring Company flamethrower is safer than what you can buy right now off the
shelf on Amazon to destroy weeds," the spokesman said.
"Much like a rollercoaster, this is designed to be thrilling
without danger and everyone who purchased one will also
receive a complimentary Boring fire extinguisher."
Flamethrowers are legal in every state except California
and Maryland, which bans what it calls "flamethrowers"
without offering a definition of such devices. In fact, companies like Ion Productions Team in Arizona-a state that's also
prone to wildfires-sell devices that can shoot a flame up to
30 feet. Ion's CEO, Chris Byars, even belittled the Musk product in an interview with USA Today, calling it "basically the
starter torch for ours."
The debate over The Boring Company's flamethrowers
didn't seem to trouble Musk, who was busy having fun with
the new product as it went on sale. "Don't do this," he wrote
alongside an Instagram video of himself running flame-first
toward the camera with one of the devices. "Also, I want to
be clear that a flamethrower is a super terrible idea. Definitely don't buy one. Unless you like fun."
N F PA . O R G / J O U R N A L * NFPA JOURNAL

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NFPA Journal - March/April 2018