Hmm... I read that as exploding *plants* - and got to thinking, "well, of course, NZ probably has lots of eucalypts, just like Australia (and now California)." And those are explosive plants! Forest fires in Australia are especially catastrophic, due to the large amounts of oil in the bark of the eucalypt trees. The oil heats up from small parts of the tree/surrounding ground burning, then explodes - sending bits of burning bark a long way - from feet to hundreds of feet, depending on the wind/fire conditions. Pretty scary stuff, really.

But ... you were talking about pants.

*sigh*