Threw a pot of boiling water in the air. Kids thought it was awesome. Do it, people.
— Jason DeRusha (@DeRushaJ) January 6, 2014
During the recent cold spell branded the Polar Vortex, a lot of people were videotaping themselves throwing hot water into the cold air to watch it freeze in mid-air.
The Los Angeles Times recently wrote about the other thing that happens when you throw hot water into the air: People get burned.
WCCO‘s Jason DeRusha encouraged viewers on Twitter to do it. While the anchor for the Minneapolis CBS owned station wasn’t the only one touting the trick, DeRusha ended up in hot water with local paper the Star-Tribune who saw the Times article and wrote:
When DeRusha was asked for comment, he hid behind his boss’ skirt or pants.
“He couldn’t comment without proper permission from his supervisors due to company policies on speaking with the media,” wrote the L.A. Times. “But on Twitter he said to a follower … ‘Sorry that anyone got hurt! I look forward to the post on all the Minnesotans who did this safely!’ On Tuesday morning, he added, ‘None of those people are from MN or followers of mine.’ ”
That sounded a tad cavalier, I told DeRusha via Twitter on Friday. He responded. “Not my intent, certainly. But I don’t think my tweet influenced people in Kentucky, Ohio, Maryland to toss boiling water.”
The Times reports at least 50 people said they had either burned themselves or friends while attempting the trick. Some needed treatment at the hospital.
TVSpy originally identified DeRusha as a meteorologist. He is an anchor. We apologize for the error.