Man sets apartment alight when trying to kill spider

A man who tried to kill a spider with a blowtorch has partially destroyed his own home.

The Californian decided on an unusual way to kill the large wolf spider and ended up setting his unit complex alight on Sunday, KPNX reports. 

A number of residents were forced to escape the burning unit and attempted to put the blaze out with a garden hose when firefighters arrived and battled the flames.

It took 20 minutes before the blaze was extinguished.

The fire is reported to have caused about US$11,000 in damages.

It is not known whether the spider survived blaze but no-one was injured during the accident.

This is not the first time someone has burnt down their home while trying to kill a spider.

In October last year, an elderly woman suffered minor injuries after a man in Arizona used a blowtorch to get rid of spider webs in his mobile home.

More than 20 firefighters were able to put out the blaze within 11 minutes.