And The Rocket’s Red Glare!

The bombs heads bursting in air

CALAIS, Maine (AP) — A 22-year-old man who was drinking and celebrating the Fourth of July tried to launch a firework off the top of his head, killing him instantly, authorities said Sunday.

Devon Staples and his friends had been drinking and setting off fireworks Saturday night in the backyard of a friend’s home in eastern Maine, said Stephen McCausland, a spokesman for the state Department of Public Safety.

Staples, 22, of Calais, a small city on the Canadian border, placed a reloadable fireworks mortar tube on his head and told his friends he was going to light it, McCausland said. But his friends urged him to stop.

“Apparently, he thought that was a great idea,” McCausland said. “His friends they thought dissuaded him from doing it, and the next thing they knew, he ignited the fireworks and he was killed instantly.”

Staples’s brother Cody told the Daily News of New York that he was a few feet away when his brother lit the firework and was the first to come to his side after it exploded.

“There was no rushing him to the hospital. There was no Devon left when I got there,” said 25-year-old Cody Staples, who called it an accident.

My goodness.

7 Responses to “And The Rocket’s Red Glare!”

1. JeffS says:

   July 6, 2015 at 9:27 am

   Sad, but he’s Darwin Award material.

2. Syd B. says:

   July 6, 2015 at 11:02 am

   Youth and alcohol are often a nasty pairing. I often shudder when I think of the stupid stunts I pulled off, growing up. This one didn’t work out so well for the poor guy.

3. Mike Cunningham says:

   July 7, 2015 at 5:19 am

   The local ‘Gene Pool’ percentage IQ must have taken a substantial jump upwards after the sad departure of that moron. He will be missed, but not by many, or for very long.

4. Kathy Kinsley says:

   July 7, 2015 at 7:24 pm

   @JeffS Yes, a definite candidate for this year’s Darwin Award. Could even be the winner.

   Poor fool.

5. Kathy Kinsley says:

   July 7, 2015 at 7:40 pm

   @Syd – I’m not sure youth has anything to do with it. I’ve seen many older (and even elderly) adults do some danged stupid things under the influence.

   And under other influences – including non-drug showing off for someone – too. I suspect that anything that can remove inhibitions tends to let out the inner fool. Some people seem to have the ability to stifle that fool, others don’t.

6. aelfheld says:

   July 9, 2015 at 4:02 pm

   Now his mother is clamouring for fireworks regulation and training. At least we know where he got the stupid from.

7. Kathy Kinsley says:

   July 9, 2015 at 8:10 pm

   @aelfheld

   She’s lost a child – that tends to make people a bit less than rational.