I thought of 1,000 ways to start this article off and I settled on this: gasoline: a volatile flammable liquid hydrocarbon mixture used as a fuel in combustion engines.

…and apparently will kill head lice when you need something potent in a jiffy. A 12-year-old girl was in critical condition with third-degree burns to 23 percent of her body Thursday with burns to her head, face, torso and hands after a neighbor doused her with gasoline to remove lice.

What? Where did this happen? Was it in a trailer park?

Detectives still were trying to sort out at the time of this article what exactly happened at the trailer park home in the 1800 block of Bounty Street, which is northwest of Colfax Avenue and Sable Boulevard.

I knew it.

A woman described as a “neighbor and friend” of the victim's family told detectives that she poured the gasoline on the child's hair, then carefully rinsed it out.

Some time later, something apparently ignited gasoline vapors coming from the youngster's head and torso. No shit. With all that gasoline in her hair a pair of wool socks and some static electricity could have blown this child up. Hell, I bet the cat rubbing up against her leg could have been enough to make that girl go up like a matchstick.

This isn’t funny. Aurora authorities actually had to emphasize in a public statement that over-the-counter medication can remove lice. What, is this news to someone? "Basically people need to remember gasoline is a highly explosive liquid," the Fire Captain said. "Approximately one cup of gasoline can be as powerful as a stick of dynamite. His department alone investigates about five incidents a year in which people in trailer parks dangerously and inappropriately use gasoline. People have been burned and property has been damaged because gasoline was used for such chores as removing clothing stains.