However, we conclude that under Pennsylvania law the district court could implicitly make these determinations by the fact that it sent the case to the jury. Appellant Faberge bore the burden of requesting an explicit ruling on this issue if it desired one. The parties do not contest the main facts. Faberge manufactures Aqua Net hair spray worldwide in both aerosol and non-aerosol pump spray containers. Aqua Net contains a mixture of butane or propane, as the aerosol propellant, and alcohol, as a solvent for the propellant and the hair-holding agent.
Alcohol is flammable and both propane and butane are extremely flammable.
The spray valve would not work properly. Alison decided to cut open the can with a can opener. She thought she could then pour the contents into an empty pump bottle of Aqua Net which had a working spray mechanism. Alison was standing in the kitchen near a gas stove when she punctured the can. A cloud of hair spray gushed from the can and the stove's pilot light ignited the spray into a ball of flame.