Recently, in Yuhuan, Zhejiang Province, a man accidentally left the fire on after heating traditional Chinese medicine and only discovered it when he returned home after 27 days, causing a cold sweat. On September 8th, the topic of “Man forgets to turn off the fire, only to discover after 27 days” surged to the top of the trending list on Weibo.
A netizen posted a video claiming that the fire has been burning since August 10th, almost a month, and the water in the pot had already dried up. The video showed that the bottom of the pot was slightly whitened from the heat but not burnt through.
According to Mr. Ye, the person who posted the video, speaking to media outlets like Daxiang News, the gas stove in his home does not have an automatic shut-off function. He had been away for 27 days, leaving the gas stove burning at the lowest heat setting. He said, “I was heating a bag of Chinese medicine at that time. After taking out the bag, the water inside was left there and dried up.”
Mr. Ye mentioned that he received a text message reminding him of low gas balance, so he paid through the app, but he never realized he had forgotten to turn off the fire.
“Upon returning home and seeing the gas stove knob at the lowest heat setting, the pot was still hot,” Mr. Ye said. He added, “I was frightened. If the gas stove had burnt out, the whole house would have been burned down.”
Mr. Ye reminded everyone to carefully check before going out, as regret would be futile after an accident.
Netizens commented, “The neighbors in the entire building must have had a scare too.” “After 27 days, it’s really fortunate that nothing bad happened.” “What kind of pot and stove were used? Seeking recommendations.”