1.Three young men in Oklahoma were enjoying the coming forth of July
holiday and wanted to apparently test fire some fireworks. Their only
real problem was that their launch pad and seating arrangements were
atop a several-hundred-thousand-gallon fuel distillation storage tank.
Oddly enough, some fumes were ignited, producing a fireball seen for
miles and miles. They were launched, no doubt, countless thousands of
feet into the air and were found dead 250 yards from their respective
seats.
2.A man in Alabama died from rattlesnake bites. Big deal, you may say,
but there's a twist here that makes him a Darwin Award candidate. It
seems he and a friend were playing "catch" with a rattlesnake. You can
guess what happened from here. The friend was hospitalized.
3.Several years ago, in a west Texas town, employees in a medium-sized
warehouse noticed the smell of a gas leak. Sensibly, management evacuated
the building, extinguishing all potential sources of ignition; lights,
power, etc. After the building had been evacuated, two technicians from
the gas company were dispatched. Upon entering the building, they found
they had difficulty navigating in the dark. To their frustration, none
of the lights worked. Witnesses later described the vision of one of the
technicians reaching into his pocket, and retrieving an object that
resembled a lighter. Upon operation of the lighter-like object, the gas
in the warehouse exploded, sending pieces of it up to three miles away.
Nothing was found of the technicians, but the lighter was virtually
untouched by the explosion. The technician that was suspected of causing
the explosion had never been thought of as "bright" by his peers.
4.CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (Nov. 13) -- A 39-year-old Charlottesville man died
Thursday in a freak accident involving his washing machine. According to
police reports, Samuel Randolph Strickson was doing laundry when he tried
to speed up the process. Strickson apparently tried to stuff approximately
50 pounds of laundry into his washing machine by climbing on top of the
washer and attempting to force the clothing into the basin. Strickson then
apparently accidentally kicked the washing machine's ON button. When the
machine turned on, Strickson lost his balance and both feet went down into
the machine, where they got stuck. The machine started its cycle, and
Strickson, unable to free himself, started thrashing around as the
machine's agitator went into gear. Strickson's head banged against
a nearby shelf in the laundry room, knocking over a bottle of bleach,
which poured over Strickson's face, blinding him. Forensic reports say
Strickson apparently also swallowed some of the bleach. He then vomited,
but was still unable to free himself. Strickson's dog, then apparently
came into the laundry room. At about the same time, according to police,
a large box of baking soda fell from the shelf, startling the dog, who
then urinated. Urine, like vinegar, is acidic, and the chemical reaction
between the urine and the baking soda resulted in "a small explosion,"
according to police reports. The dog, however, escaped unharmed.
Strickson remained stuck in the washing machine, which eventually went
into its high-speed spin cycle, spinning Strickson around at about
70 miles per hour, according to forensic experts. Strickson's head then
smashed against a steel beam behind the washing machine, immediately
killing him. A neighbor heard the commotion and called 911, but
Strickson was pronounced dead at the scene.
