"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."
Guess he won't be doing that again eh? Seriously though, some people take some very serious risks with stuff like this. The police paid a visit to a group of teens in front of my apartment building the other day because they were throwing cherry bombs at each other.
Blast from the past. When I was a kid we would put the cherry bombs (and ash cans) inside a tin can with some gravel, then when we would light it and throw it at each other we could yell, Grenade.
It was great fun but the grown ups hated it when we threw grenades.
Ken_19: Blast from the past. When I was a kid we would put the cherry bombs (and ash cans) inside a tin can with some gravel, then when we would light it and throw it at each other we could yell, Grenade.
It was great fun but the grown ups hated it when we threw grenades.
Ah yes, back in the day when we though we were invincible.
Ken_19: Blast from the past. When I was a kid we would put the cherry bombs (and ash cans) inside a tin can with some gravel, then when we would light it and throw it at each other we could yell, Grenade.
It was great fun but the grown ups hated it when we threw grenades.
good training , the most dangerous are those who have never handled explosives or firearms at a young age and somehow are exposed to them by way of the army or hunting .
well,seems another one earned a Darwin-Award! At least in my mis-spent Youth we had enough sense to keep those things away from any vital Parts of our Bodies!
raphael119washington d.c., District of Columbia USA5,181 posts
Conrad73: well,seems another one earned a Darwin-Award! At least in my mis-spent Youth we had enough sense to keep those things away from any vital Parts of our Bodies!
Conrad73: well,seems another one earned a Darwin-Award! At least in my mis-spent Youth we had enough sense to keep those things away from any vital Parts of our Bodies!
First test We made with my very first cherry bomb and m80 was to lite them and pitch them into a 40 gallon galvanized trash can and then hold its lid closed. They really messed up that trash can.
epirb: good training , the most dangerous are those who have never handled explosives or firearms at a young age and somehow are exposed to them by way of the army or hunting .
Yep. Too much Combat w/Vic Morrow on TV. We all understood grenades by age 6. Bigger kids showed how to put a hole in a can or jar lid. Secure a fuze in place with dripped candle wax (Elmers glue worked too, but you had to let it dry overnight so candle wax was quicker), etc. We'd also turn soup cans upside down and set off a blackcat firecracker underneath. Launched them 4 or 5 stories up in the air. Then try it with 2 firecrackers, and 6 stories, then 4 and the can would shred. Ash cans would instantly shred it. Needed a stronger can, but they were heavier so more explosives, ibid cycle. Learning. Grownups didn't mind. Khrushchev pounding his shoe on the desk on TV and promising to bury us meant us little kids would probably need to know all about grenades and guns in the near future. Didn't happen, but in the Bronx, we knew those things.
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"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."
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