AKICIF: Flammable waterproofing?

[jeriendhal]

Can anyone name a chemical commonly used from circa 1870's to the 1930's for tents to waterproof them, but might also make it more vulnerable to fires? (think the doping on the skin of the Hindenburg)

Comments

[chewipaka.livejournal.com]

Aha! Tent fires:

"Because the big top tent had been coated with 1,800 lb (816 kg) of paraffin dissolved in 6,000 US gallons (23 m³) of gasoline (some sources say kerosene), a common waterproofing method of the time, the flames spread rapidly. Many people were badly burned by the melting paraffin, which rained down like napalm from the roof. The fiery tent collapsed in about eight minutes according to eyewitness survivors, trapping hundreds of spectators beneath it."

from this article on wikipedia--
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hartford_circus_fire

So further research (because wiki is oh so reliable, but a good starting point), and also 14 years after what you're looking for, but there may be more examples and the technique may have been is use earlier than this.