What Darwin had in mind: Man uses lighter to check gas tank

What Darwin had in mind: Man uses lighter to check gas tank

www.mcclatchydc.com

On your list of things to never, ever do, add this one: Using a lighter to check if your fuel tank is empty.

A 44-year-old man from Fort Worth stuck a lighter into the neck of his dump truck's fuel tank Sunday night to confirm that's why the engine died, authorities said.

Diesel fuel vapors in the tank ignited, causing a flash fire that burned his face and hands, Wichita Fire Department Lt. Stuart Bevis said. The incident happened on the Kansas Turnpike in south Wichita shortly after 9:30 p.m, he said.

The man walked to a convenience store at 2750 S. Oliver to report his injury and was transported to the burn unit of Via Christi Regional Medical Center-St. Francis Campus.

He is in good condition today, a hospital spokeswoman said.

(visit the link for the full news article)

Give that man a Darwin award.

Well he did say the survival of the fittest.

What do ya say? I had a co-worker once that I was always getting to try out for the Darwin awards (he didn't know what they were) but he would never apply... Oh well... He was also the closest human being to Homer Simpson that I've ever known as well.

WHAT WAS THIS MAN THINKING???

I've done some dumb things before but Oi Vie!!!

www.mcclatchydc.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

reply to post by grover


grover, nearly spit up my beverage!!!!

I know, I know.....Some will claim 'urban legend'....

Kinda like the one which was, and still is, my favorite.....the guy who 'cleverly' thought that he could dispose of his old, dried up Christmas tree by feeding it up the chimney. (with the fire in place of course, so it would gradually be 'consumed' by the fireplace logs, and go up the chimney in smoke and ashes).

Guess he though it'd be like a glue-stick, or somethin'!!

All ya got to do is type in Darwin Awards at youtube... and there are almost 1,000 videos (939 to be exact) of stupid human tricks... so no... I believe it.

At least he got away with only burns, a couple years back in my neck of the goods on a weekend we heard an explosion, everybody ran to the end of the street where it seemed to come from.

Well the screams and distress from the lady of one of the houses could be heard, her husband lie death and burned on their garage.

He actually worked with big metal containers to make BBQ pits he had done it for a long time, so he was no new and he was not alone working that day.

One of the metal container he was working that day with had fumes, he as was ready to use his blowtorch decided to light a cigarette, the fumes ignited and he was blown up.

Tragic story we all knew him in the street, also I forgot to add that he was drinking also.

I dont think all the darwin awards are true stories..There was one where a guy thought it would be cool to have a beer out in the garden while *floating* on his chair,so he tied numerous balloons to it,floated into the lower atmosphere and died of hypothermia.As for this story,i dont think the man is inherently stupid,im guessing he just had a brain fart.

reply to post by grover


That use of a lighter works great when checking for gas leaks around your home as well.

Believe me, if you have a gas leak, you'll find it!

Why is this on ATS? Or am I missing something... Are posts not required to be relevant to the name of the website?

reply to post by Solomons


Sol, I can embellish the 'lawnchair' (likely HOAX) story:

It involved a number of weather balloons, a good deal of helium, a comfy patio lounge chair, and a shotgun....(for altitude control!!)

Alledgedly in Southern California (as the yarn unfolds) and, all-in-all, had a happy ending....no deaths, except for the debts the man incurred paying all the fines to the FAA.....

Just to point out this fella would not qualify for a Darwin award... He would of have to of successfully removed his particular leg of DNA from the gene pool forever. (If he had had any kids then his DNA will live on can't forget that one).

Basically he did not die!... Not that you can't recieve a Darwin and remain alive, but you stupid act MUST prevent you from passing on your DNA for a new life to continue the 'dumb' DNA... It would make me very uncomfortable to picture the nature of that injury - I will leave that to others to imagine!

At best I think he could get an honer y mention.

reply to post by Now_Then


Now_ how very true!! The true recepient of the 'Award' must die before contributing his/her genes to the pool.....

reply to post by sliceNodice

Sometimes ya just need some humor ya know.... with all the news lately a good belly laugh does the soul good and if I can provide it fine.

I know he wouldn't qualify for a Darwin award but he would get honorable mention...

... there are those to borrow the title of an old punk album... who are skinny dipping in the shallow end of the gene pool.


[edit on 30-3-2009 by grover]

This is a true story that I witnessed... I have lifted it verbatim from the autobiography that I have been working on for some time now... It happened during my time in the Coast Guard. I have deleted the name of the fool...

Around the 1st of April we received orders to go to Hampton Roads Va. and take a week’s damage control and firefighting training at the Navy base there. We were loading on stores before the trip and I was up on deck recording stuff as they were brought on. ____ had just re-upped in order to get his 3rd class bosun stripe but hadn’t been promoted yet. That didn’t stop him, he was up there bossing people around and generally not doing anything but get in the way. Then the executive officer came on deck and ____ decided to show how hard he was working. So, he grabbed a bale of line about three feet across and started carrying it over to the hatch that went to the bosun’s hole. Well a hatch is about 4.5X10 and weighs several hundred pounds. It takes four or five men to lift it. In the middle of the hatch is a smaller round one called a scuttle and its about three feet across. ____ decided instead of getting the men to open the hatch, that he would stuff the line through the scuttle. Well it got stuck half way through and wouldn’t budge. No one is sure what went through his mind but the next thing we knew he was jumping up and down on that bale of line to make it go through. It worked and he went in after. It was right out of a Road Runner cartoon but the results weren’t pretty. He hit his chin on the edge of the scuttle as he went through then bounced it down the rungs of the ladder as he fell. It broke his jaw which had to be wired back together and it took sixteen stitches to repair his chin. He never lived that down. It of course went into his medical record and his service record as well. As I understand it was the basis, on top of failing three bosun’s tests, of denying him any further promotions and he was eventually discharged without being offered the chance to re-up when his tour ended. To add insult on top of injury, he was ridiculed mercilessly about from then on.

... I don't know if he went on to win a Darwin award or not.


[edit on 30-3-2009 by grover]

Originally posted by grover
Sometimes ya just need some humor ya know.... with all the news lately a good belly laugh does the soul good and if I can provide it fine.

So true

Thanks for sharing, At first I thought "OH NO my neighbor did it again!"

I was relieved to see it originated out of Texas

reply to post by JacKatMtn


Oh dear... is your neighbor trying out for a Darwin award?

Care to share?

'The man is in a stable condition in hospital - Doctor's say there is no change in his intelligence. He's still thick.'

Just so people know the flying lawn chair guy is a true story.

www.snopes.com...

They even coved this a bit on Mythbusters as well.

One that really gets me is the story about the guy drilling a hole in the wall by shooting it. This of course ended badly, his wife was killed.

digg.com...




Raist

Originally posted by Solomons
There was one where a guy thought it would be cool to have a beer out in the garden while *floating* on his chair,so he tied numerous balloons to it,floated into the lower atmosphere and died of hypothermia.

Actually this is a true story. The man used weather balloons tied to a lawn chair and took along a BB gun, a six pack of beer and two balogna sandwiches. He floated into the air corridor of Los Angele's International airport before floating out to sea. They used a rope from a helicoptor to drag him back to land and when he finally came down they arrested him. He later committed suicide.

The man had problems.

Didn't some guy do that up in Washington state last year or the one before?

Yes. It's actually being done by a few people. The guy in Washington wanted to fly to Idaho and I think he actually made it. He lost his video camera along the way though so was disappointed. A priest in Latin America also said he would do this, I think as a fund raiser. Something went wrong, they never found his body.

It's not the brightest thing in the world to do.