“The American people will never knowingly adopt Socialism. But under the name of ‘liberalism’ they will adopt every fragment of the Socialist program, until one day America will be a Socialist nation, without knowing how it happened.”

Socialist Party presidential candidate Norman Thomas


Monday, June 22, 2009

Kids, never use gas to ignite fires

I always take some heat(pardon the pun) from readers when ever I poke a little fun at people who manage to kill or severely maim themselves in completely avoidable ways. Usually the family and friends of the person are the ones to write in and excoriate me for being a horrible person. While it may be true that I'm a horrible person, it doesn't change the fact that it's entirely worthwhile to blog about people hurting or killing themselves in stupid ways, as a cautionary tale, if not for the morbid humor of it. That said, here's another TRR public service post.

Today's topic: Fire and Gasoline Don't Go Together,

ABINGTON - As a 31-year-old Whitman native fights for his life in a Boston hospital following a backyard fire caused by gasoline, officials are urging the public not to use flammable materials around outdoor fires.

“Any flammable liquid, especially gasoline, cannot be used near any open flame,” Abington Fire Capt. John Nuttall said Sunday.

William Brooks of Lewiston, Maine, was listed in critical condition at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston Monday morning, a hospital spokeswoman said.
Brooks suffered second- and third-degree burns over an estimated 75 to 80 percent of his body after pouring gasoline on a backyard fire pit in Abington Saturday night, causing an explosion.
Brooks was on fire for at least 30 seconds after the explosion.


Dude burned for 30 seconds! Wow! One could almost have cooked a marsh mellow if one was prepared. Who doesn't know not, not to pour gas on a fire? Had Mr. Brooks never heard the metaphoric cliche', "That's like pouring gas on the fire."? Even though Mr. Brooks was that stupid, his even stupider friends stood there while he did it and said nothing. How about a, "Dude, maybe you should rethink that."?

I'm sure I'll hear from Mr. Brooks's family and friends who'll threaten me and tell me what a great person he was/is. He might be a great person but, he's a great, stupid person.

14 comments:

Bobby T said...

Ed even if Brooks was a great person, he's still toast! I'm sorry I couldn't resist the jab.

Ed said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

You weren't there so you don't know what was said to him by his friends.. something was said and it still happened.

Angie Lee said...

Ahhh... the future of America....

Good one with the "toast" post, Bobby.

Anon: So you're saying that his buddies told him he was being a moron and he just ignored them anyhow - maybe because he's A MORON?

Ed said...

Anon, were you there? If so, why didn't you stop this? If not, then zip it, and don't tell me what I know and don't know. Clearly, his "friends" didn't say enough or he wouldn't have set himself on fire. Not saying enough, is pretty much the same thing as not saying anything, isn't it?

Joe Camel said...

Complicity and accetability by silence. Now there is a great method of giving aid to others.

Angie Lee said...

I dunno, Ed. Some people are pretty thick and they're gonna do what they want regardless of what others say.

More power to The Burnin Man. He's cleansing the gene pool. He may have earned himself a Darwin Award.

Anonymous said...

Ed, I was there so I can and will tell you what you do and don't know, , I only saw the explosion out of the corner of my eye and almost got on fire myself, yes it was a dumb thing for him to do and now he is paying for it, I would have said something had I seen him pouring the gasoline on the fire pit, another guy there did try to stop him but it was too late. Keep your "know it all" opinion about his friends to yourself,

David said...

A picture IS worth a thousand words! If you look closely you can almost see the thought cloud which on my screen reads "What the F&*K?"

Angie Lee said...

Anon: That's what I was wondering myself, that his friends told him not to and he chose not to listen.

David: My computer read "stupid is as stupid does."

Ed said...

anon, I don't claim to know it all but, I know enough that if somebody pours gasoline on a lit fire, he is a moron. That there were bystanders who got burned because of his stupity is a damn shame...all jokes aside.

David said...

Angie Lee: Interestingly my computer also provided me with backgound music which sounded a lot like the song "Hot Cross Buns".

Anonymous said...

That's a shame, that there are people out there like this guy to make fun of people like Bill. I am a friend of his who wasn't there.
He's stuborn. I know that much, I just hope he pulls through and people like this guy grows a damn heart.

Anonymous said...

Let me say, i know this individual VERY well and yes, he sometimes is a moron. But as the saying goes, what goes around comes around. Not that i would wish anything like this upon anyone but it seems as though karma has finally caught up to him. It's gonna be a long and painful recovery. Good luck to you, Mr. Brooks!