Morons abound. Definitely a Darwin Award nominee--posthumously of course. A mortar tube, with enough explosive charge inside to propel the 'pretty stuff' hundreds of feet into the air probably has the recoil of several 12 ga shotguns. On top of your skull...really?
quote
Maine man dies after trying to light firework on his head A Maine man died during a Fourth of July celebration on Saturday night when he tried to launch a firework from the top of his head and it exploded, killing him instantly, police said Sunday.
Devon Staples, 22, of Calais, Maine, was drinking and celebrating the holiday in a friend's backyard when he placed the fireworks mortar tube on his head around 10 p.m., said Stephen McCausland, a spokesman for the state Department of Public Safety.
McCausland said it was unclear whether the firework was already lit, or whether Staples lit it once it was on his head.
He was killed instantly when it exploded, McCausland said.
The tube Staples was using was a reusable mortar shell but said McCausland said investigators did not know what type of firework he was attempting to shoot.
Maine has allowed the sale of fireworks since lawmakers repealed a 60-year-old ban on them in 2011.
Calais is in the eastern part of the state near the Canadian border.
Texas had its first alligator-on-human fatality in two hundred years (according to the report that I read).
Man was 25 or 28 years old. Originally from St. Louis (where I was born). Decided to go for a night time swim in a bayou. His friends called his attention to a sign that was posted, warning of alligators. Or maybe "the alligator". It was known that a large one had been seen in the water in that area. A woman jumped off the pier and into the water, alongside the man. The alligator went for the man. The woman escaped.
While he was still on the pier, one of the group (as I said) called his attention to the warning sign "No swimming, alligators are here."
His very last (intelligible) words may have been "F**king alligators". A dismissive declaration, just before he jumped from the pier into the water.
They found the man's body about a half mile downstream. I don't think the alligator wanted to eat him, or if so, maybe it didn't like its first taste of the man. Read as if the man's body was very much intact, aside from puncture wounds.
A very-very irritating kid (mid-20's) from Maine I ad the misfortune of working with a few years back. Actually, that is just the kind of stunt he would pull.
[This message has been edited by MidEngineManiac (edited 07-06-2015).]
Would it be OK for me to say that this guy was no rocket scientist?
No he must have had a PHD !
on a personal note about the idiot, he was born in Calais he worked at Disney in FL as Gaston, so some of you who had visited in the last few years may have also met him. Or at least seen him playing Gaston in the park.
Of course alcohol was involved, His brother said it was an accident, he was just playing around trying to get a rise out of people when he accidently lit the fuse, WTF was wrong with this kid?
His brother said, “I was the first one who got there. There was no rushing him to the hospital. There was no Devon left when I got there, It was a freak accident. …. But Devon was not the kind of person who would do something stupid. He was the kind of person who would pretend to do something stupid to make people laugh.”
The report that I read said that he wanted to make it look as if he were about to activate the firework (is this something that has a fuse that someone puts a lit match to in order to set off the firework?), but that he did not want to actually set off the firework. That's what his friends thought, as they described what happened, afterwards.
Originally posted by Rickady88GT: I noticed that the hair on his right side is significantly shorter than the left? Experience on the metter?
His head is turned ever so slightly an old trick with regular photography like putting a cat in a bottle, when In reality that cat is simply behind the bottle.
Angles, distances can make a big difference in what a photo looks like when you take it.
A very-very irritating kid (mid-20's) from Maine I ad the misfortune of working with a few years back. Actually, that is just the kind of stunt he would pull.
on a personal note about the idiot, he was born in Calais he worked at Disney in FL as Gaston, so some of you who had visited in the last few years may have also met him. Or at least seen him playing Gaston in the park.
Of course alcohol was involved, His brother said it was an accident, he was just playing around trying to get a rise out of people when he accidently lit the fuse, WTF was wrong with this kid?
His brother said, “I was the first one who got there. There was no rushing him to the hospital. There was no Devon left when I got there, It was a freak accident. …. But Devon was not the kind of person who would do something stupid. He was the kind of person who would pretend to do something stupid to make people laugh.”
"Staples' mother, Kathleen Staples, said she is going to reach out to lawmakers about the possibility of tighter controls over fireworks. The state should consider requiring safety training courses before allowing someone to use them, she said."
"Staples' death is the first fireworks fatality in Maine since it legalized fireworks on Jan. 1, 2012"
Well that (dead) apple sure didn't fall too far from the stupid tree.
Three YEARS without a single fatality until her little "genius' decides to play "human mortar" and suddenly she decides the entire state needs MORE LAWS.
IT GETS EVEN BETTER THOUGH!
"Democratic Rep. Michel Lajoie, a retired fire chief from Lewiston who has pushed to repeal Maine's fireworks law in the past, said Monday that he's considering trying to introduce another measure next year but acknowledged it faces long odds."
"They're going to say, 'Well, you can't regulate stupidity' ... and it's true, you can't. But the fact of the matter is you have to try something," Lajoie said. "I'm not giving up."
Well of course you're not going to give up even though it's stupid you ignoramus! That is how this country gets *stupid laws* pushed forward by *stupid legislators* representing a minority of *other* stupid people.
[This message has been edited by randye (edited 07-07-2015).]
Yes, the entire freaking state needs to pay for the tragic loss of one of their shining stars. Because if they all would have been looking over his shoulder like good nanny-state citizens, this tragedy wouldn't have happened.
Yes, the entire freaking state needs to pay for the tragic loss of one of their shining stars. Because if they all would have been looking over his shoulder like good nanny-state citizens, this tragedy wouldn't have happened.
That was sarcasm.
"His brother said, “I was the first one who got there. There was no rushing him to the hospital. There was no Devon left when I got there, It was a freak accident. …. But Devon was not the kind of person who would do something stupid. He was the kind of person who would pretend to do something stupid to make people laugh.”
That's nothing, look at what other countries do to celebrate new years, Easter and more, and lets not forget the man card required running of the bulls, What Moron ever thought this was a good idea?. I will tell you,, someone who had just a little to much fkn alcohol.
I would think alcohol was probably more of a factor here, than anything else....
YA THINK,
YOU THINK MAYBE?
anyone who has used those types of fireworks, the motor tube type, some are one shot and some are usable repeated times, raise your hand? They shoot these things several hundred feet and some of those things are the size of an apple. They do creat quite a powerful recoil if not placed on a solid hard surface like a concrete pad, parking lot, I used to set them off on the farm in TN on a sheet of 3/4" plywood in the middle of a gravel driveway I had watered down to prevent the blast when they went up in the air from catching things on fire that were close buy.
Alcohol has no place around things like these, guns, motorized vehicles or even weed whackers for crying out load. Seems to be contributing factor in most of these fireworks related injuries, ether that or just teens being teens and STUPID !
That's nothing, look at what other countries do to celebrate new years, Easter and more, and lets not forget the man card required running of the bulls, What Moron ever thought this was a good idea?. I will tell you,, someone who had just a little to much fkn alcohol.
Apparently a number of people think this sort of thing is a good idea.
From Texas:
quote
Here’s another cautionary tale on why it’s a bad idea to shoot fireworks off your body, and it comes courtesy of a Texas man.
Houston’s KPRC reports that Justin Bartek, a 30-year-old postal worker, was lighting off fireworks on Tuesday when he thought it would be a good idea to put the “Medieval Knight” — a “big tube-type firework — up to his chest. It exploded and Bartek later died at the hospital.
“He was the light of many people’s lives and the world to the people that knew him, and he would give the world to any that asked,” Erica Jackson, one of Bartek’s friends, told KPRC.
Fireworks can be deadly, especially when holding a football-sized mortar up to your head. Just ask the family and friends of 47-year-old Scott Jeffers, who witnessed the unintentional grand finale during a party in a Detroit suburb on Sunday.
Jeffers, was reportedly imitating a YouTube stunt and didn’t realize the mortar was lit. It was, and went off while he had it next to his head.
His brother said it was an accident, he was just playing around trying to get a rise out of people when he accidently lit the fuse, WTF was wrong with this kid?
Tweeting responses are the new "entertainment".
They shoot these things several hundred feet and some of those things are the size of an apple. They do creat quite a powerful recoil if not placed on a solid hard surface like a concrete pad, parking lot, I used to set them off on the farm in TN on a sheet of 3/4" plywood in the middle of a gravel driveway I had watered down to prevent the blast when they went up in the air from catching things on fire that were close buy. 
