COLOMBIA-COCKROACH-EXHIBITION

A Centralia, Washington, man was arrested Monday for reckless burning after he tried to light some cockroaches, like those pictured here, on fire using a can of bug spray and a lighter.

(RAUL ARBOLEDA/AFP/Getty Images)

A Centralia, Washington, man was arrested Monday morning after he nearly started a fire while trying to get rid of some cockroaches using a homemade flamethrower, police said.

The man, who was not immediately identified, reportedly got so fed up with roaches in his apartment that he used a can of bug spray, in concert with a lighter, to create an impromptu flamethrower in an effort to try and drive the pestilent insects from his residence.

When he began to notice smoke, he apparently realized the folly of his ways and fled the apartment, alerting some neighbors that something might be on fire, Officer John Panco, a Centralia police spokesman, told The Oregonian/OregonLive.

One of his neighbors called 911 to report the incident on the 300 block of North Tower Avenue in the central Washington town of roughly 16,000, which sits on Interstate 5 south of Olympia, Panco said.

But by the time police and fire crews arrived, the fire -- or at least the threat of one -- had dissipated. There was no damage to the apartment and, contrary to earlier media reports, it did not appear that any flames had broken out, Panco said.

The man was arrested on suspicion of second degree reckless burning and was expected to be arraigned by Tuesday.

No humans were injured in the incident, Panco said, but it was unclear if the targeted cockroaches escaped unscathed.

-- Kale Williams

kwilliams@oregonian.com

503-294-4048