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After enjoying some NCAA basketball and drinks with a client at an Upper West Side barbecue restaurant one night last March, 31-year-old Lauren Sclafani was getting ready to leave when she was suddenly engulfed in flames. As "Great Balls of Fire" played on the jukebox, the bartender at Brother Jimmy's BBQ allegedly poured 151-proof Bacardi rum across the bar and lit it on fire. Which is usually harmless fun, except this time the flame blew black into the bottle, turning it into a "flamethrower," according to Sclafani's lawyer.
In court papers obtained by the Post, Sclafini describes the incident: "I was just about to leave, and the next thing you know, I'm lit on fire. My face was burning, my hands were burning, my clothes were on fire. I was just praying to make it stop." She suffered second- and third-degree burns and spent three weeks in the hospital getting surgeries and skin grafts. The former triathlete still has to wear compression garments on her arms and gloves 24 hours a day: "My hands are terribly scarred. I can't be in the sun, can't swim, can't go to the pool to exercise, and I'm certainly not keen on going to certain types of bars."
Sclafini is now suing the Brother Jimmy's owners, who have since pulled the drink off shelves at all locations. Sclafani's lawyer says they also want the 151-proof liquor banned everywhere; he tells the Daily News, "This is a product that has no value except for this kind of purpose. One hundred proof is serious enough for anybody." A spokesman for Brother Jimmy's expressed "compassion" for Sclafini's injuries, but insisted that the establishment "is a fun, safe environment that people have come to know for 20 years."
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Phew.
Talk about feeling a little hot under the collar!
This never would have happened if Tom Cruise didn't have the night off.
Setting fire to things seems like it would be covered under the arson law. Setting bars on fire also seems like it wouldn't be in allowed by the fire code either.
Many bars have banned it. It's an ass kicker.
I dunno, I think 151 has other purposes than for fire drinks. In college, some people I knew would use it to get really, really drunk. Isn't that what Brother Jimmy's is like? College?
It sucks that this woman was hurt and the bar should definitely pay for her pain and suffering, but trying to have something that others enjoy banned just because it accidentally hurt her is dumb and vindictive.
"Good luck on banning 151 but who knows, in the age of Obama anything can happen."
Yep, because wasn't it Obama who banned smoking in bars and restaurants, and banned serving food containing trans fats, and mandated seat belt use, and required motorcyclists to wear helmets... and on and on injecting government oversight into our everyday lives? Yeah, face it, Obama can be blamed for everything.
P.S. You misspelled "Barack HUSSEIN Obama" this time.
I think HUGO_MEGO meant that if a person of color could be elected president of this racist country then anything can happen. Right Hugo? That's what you meant, right? 'Cuz if not, you'd look pretty silly.
Bottom line is that Brother Jimmy's should try to settle this as quickly and as quietly as possible. They screwed up, no way around it. Pay the woman; that's why you have insurance. How horrible for her to have had this happen.
I'm baffled as to why she and her lawyers are blaming the drink, too. Seems to me that it didn't light itself on fire.
151 rum is for sissies and cowards. Real men drink Everclear.
Dear Ms. Sclafani,
I was with you right up until you blamed the alcohol for lighting itself on fire.
Sincerely,
Outter
Dumbasses all around.
Poor woman; I pray she recovers back to reasonably normal.
To say that she has a case is an understatement. Go get 'em girl.
Can we still light our farts?
Yeah, it's not really Bacardi's fault that some idiot bartender burned this chick.
#5, Brother Jimmy's, like 95% of the bars on the Upper West Side cater to the "just turned 21" college crowd. That is still no excuse for the bartender's actions.
100 proof is enough? Balderdash! I require highly inebriatory libations! How else can I make my 151 Rum Swizzle? What about the 126 proof Booker's?
Bacardi has deep pockets, that's all. It's bullshit anyway because alcohol doesn't have to be 151 proof to light on fire.
I was at the Brother Jimmy's down near MSG a few weeks ago for the $23 Sunday night all-you-can-eat-and-drink ribs and beer special and damned those ribs are goo--oo--oooooooo--ood. The only problems were you can only get Bud or Bud Light and while you're watching the football game there are a dozen homeless guys outside the window salivating at your dinner and trying to look over you shoulder at the TV.
As a member of the glorious Taliban I do not imbibe of the cursed firewater myself but I do immensely enjoy watching the infidel swine (that means YOU basically) perform your wonderfully zany antics after downing a few. If only you could ALL catch fire.
PS: Thank you for pointing out the extreme flammability of this wonderful beverage, the manure thing was getting to be too gross!
SETTING THE BAR ON FIRE IS HARMLESS FUN?
Gothamist, are you kidding me?
Crowded bars plus illegal fire acts plus what I'm assuming is an older bar grandfathered in under the fire code and not up to new structure standards with fire exits and sprinklers can very easily equal disaster, if you'll forgive the run-on sentence.
I was in Rhode Island for the Station nightclub fire that killed a hundred people. It can happen very easily.
I'm not an old stick in the mud. But I don't think it's a smart idea to dick around with fire for fun. Call me kooky.
^ Exactly. I was thinking the same thing about that horrible fire in Rhode Island with this story. Setting any fire in close quarters indoors is absolute carelessness. I understand the fun part of it but here's the other side. I know the bartender would never have done that if he knew this poor woman would suffer. But nobody thinks, do they?