Man, 34, who nearly died after his electric blanket caught fire in the middle of the night reveals how sleeping NAKED saved his life
- Daniel De Gabrielle, 34, woke one winter morning last year to find he was on fire
- Mr De Gabrielle, who is from Canada, tucked himself into ‘multiple blankets’
- He woke up at about 7am to find one of the blankets had short-circuited
Daniel De Gabrielle (pictured), 34, was abruptly woken one winter morning last year to find he was on fire
A man who nearly died after his electric blanket caught on fire in the middle of the night has revealed that sleeping naked saved his life.
Daniel De Gabrielle, 34, was abruptly woken one winter morning last year to find he was on fire.
The night preceding Mr De Gabrielle, who is from Canada, tucked himself into ‘multiple blankets’ in his Melbourne apartment to keep warm.
‘At some point in the night one of them short-circuited and the bed was on fire, I was on fire, it was about 7am in the morning,’ he told news.com.au.
‘I wasn’t wearing any clothes at the time, thankfully, because the firefighters said I would be dead if I was.’
Mr De Gabrielle admitted he didn’t know much about fire safety and tried to put out the blaze with water but it was to no avail.

The night preceding Mr De Gabrielle, who is from Canada, tucked himself into ‘multiple blankets’ in his Melbourne apartment to keep warm. Pictured: the destroyed electric blanket
Left with little opportunity, Mr De Gabrielle picked up the burning bed and pulled it from the apartment.
The fire spread throughout the home and Mr De Gabrielle said he and his partner lost all their belongings left inside.
Mr De Gabrielle suffered second degree burns to 20 per cent of his body and spent two weeks in hospital.
On the night of the fire, the 34-year-old was sleeping in the guest room because he intended to move out in the coming days.

Mr De Gabrielle suffered second degree burns to 20 per cent of his body and spent two weeks in hospital
His girlfriend’s family were previously staying in the guest room and Mr De Gabrielle said it was ‘lucky’ they were not there then.
Mr De Gabrielle described the incident as ‘surreal’, saying her would often hear about the horror stories of electric blankets but didn;t expect to experience them.
‘Definitely turn it off if you’re sleeping. It’s like an oven — you need to turn it off when you’re not in the house or else you might not have a house to come back to,’ he said.
NSW Fire and Rescue warns cooler months in Australia see a 10 per cent increase in the number home fires, in bedrooms and loungerooms due to heaters and electric blankets.

Mr De Gabrielle described the incident as ‘surreal’ as you’ll often hear about the horror stories of electric blankets but don’t expect to experience them. Pictured: the destroyed electric blanket