My biggest chilli incident was cooking salt and pepper fish whist a student. It was the day after a big party and I had one of those fidgety hangovers and was up and about while the rest of the household slept off the booze.
In my feeble state I managed to chuck all the fish of the floor instead of the wok, applying the 3 second rule I quickly grabbed it and gave it a rinse. This was precisely enough to tim to set fire to a pan of fresh chillies creating a column of chilli smoke and vapour in the kitchen.
You take a breath and your lungs shrivel and you cough and cough and cough and cough until the only thing you can do is take another deep breath and repeat the cycle. Eyes and nose streaming (ears bleeding) I opened the kitchen window to clear the air. This swiftly blew the smoke straight up the stairs and one by one I heard each of the 2 dozen slumbering party casualties dotted around the house having the most unpleasant awakenings of their lives.
