Talk about burning as it goes down.
Alaskan Woman Dies After Mistaking Antifreeze for Home Brew
A 51-year-old Emmonak woman died after drinking antifreeze she mistook for home brew, Alaska State Troopers said.
Thelma Immamak’s boyfriend, Franklin Murphy, also drank the toxic liquid with her on Sunday and was medevaced to Anchorage for treatment. His condition was not immediately available Tuesday.
The antifreeze was stored for unknown reasons in a soft drink bottle, according to trooper Teague Widmier.
I’ve seen, and possibly sampled, some odd looking homemade al-kee-hall, but I’ve never seen one that resembles, in either look or smell, auto coolant.
Coupla possibilities come to mind here. One was that we’ve assumed it was ethylene glycol antifreeze. It could have been some sort of “squeeze”, or denatured alcohol or wood alcohol that they kep around to pour a bit in the drain or toilet to keep it from freezing, or maybe climb the roof and pour it down the drain vents, a common practice in the arctic.
OSHA inspection teams are VERY HARD on things in unlabeled containers. Even a cleaner in an unlabeled spray bottle will draw a citation or red-tag a facility.
Probably aren’t many OSHA inspectors in Emmonak. This is one of those situations where you just gotta shake your head…