# Darwin Award Winners: Fourth of July Specials **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 4, 2007, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/darwin-award-winners-fourth-of-july-specials/410494 "2007-07-04T13:40:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2007, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/darwin-award-winners-fourth-of-july-specials/410494/1 "2007-07-04T13:40:35Z")
And the first candidate has been nominated: [Woman blows head off as family watches:](http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/07/04/fireworks.death.ap/index.html) > [@](#): > > A powerful firework exploded in the face of a woman trying to set it off, killing her as her fiance and 8-year-old son watched, police said. > > Danialle Barse, 27, was unfamiliar with the commercial-grade aerial firework she was using Monday night, said Mike Welch, a police detective in this Detroit suburb. > > “She basically killed herself in front her children and her fiance,” Welch said. > > Barse and another woman were trying to set off a 3-inch mortar bomb in the parking lot of the car wash where Barse worked when it went off as she had her head over it, Welch said. I’m sure there’ll be plenty of other candidates for first place this Fourth of July, but this woman sure has an impressive head start, eh? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2007, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/darwin-award-winners-fourth-of-july-specials/410494/2 "2007-07-04T13:42:19Z")
Technically, she’s not eligible for the Darwin Award, having already procreated. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2007, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/darwin-award-winners-fourth-of-july-specials/410494/3 "2007-07-04T13:45:10Z")
… but also… this just isn’t funny. Dumbasses killing themselves in stupidly predictable and reckless ways can be funny. Mothers being killed in front of their children by what amounts to a stupid accident, is not. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2007, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/darwin-award-winners-fourth-of-july-specials/410494/4 "2007-07-04T13:45:39Z")
Jeeeeeez…what a fuckin’ nightmare. ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2007, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/darwin-award-winners-fourth-of-july-specials/410494/5 "2007-07-04T14:08:12Z")
[QUOTE=EddyTeddyFreddy] …impressive head start, eh? [/QUOTE] Heh heh heh heh… ETA: But Jeebus, did she put her head in front of a mortar? That’s like looking into a canon to see if the big black ball is coming out, like in cartoons! I like professional fireworks displays. Untrained people messing aorund with explosives always whigs me out. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2007, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/darwin-award-winners-fourth-of-july-specials/410494/6 "2007-07-04T14:30:22Z")
I think the thread title is an unjustified tease. Nowhere does the OP link claim her head was actually blown off. Give me real decapitation or give me death! Er,… ---
**Author:** ![Mindfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindfield/32/19759_2.png) [@Mindfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mindfield)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2007, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/darwin-award-winners-fourth-of-july-specials/410494/7 "2007-07-04T14:45:22Z")
Jeez. Talk about life imitating art. That’s just … nasty. What would possess someone to stick their head over an explosive device _they were trying to light?_ That’s the Daffy Duck or Elmer Fudd moment where the cannon whose fuse he lit (or the shotgun whose trigger he pulled) didn’t go off and so he goes to investigate the barrel up close to see why, with predictable (if less fatal and more amusing) results. It’s a shame it went down like that, though – I’d be horrified beyond words. But then I’d not have let someone I loved do something so stupid as to light a firework while hovering over top of the business end. What galls me are the kids I see chasing other kids with fireworks in their hands, firing them off at the one being chased. It’s incredibly moronic and very dangerous, and I see it every damn year. Twice, because in Canada we have two different occasions to set of fireworks within a 5 week span. (Victoria day, third week in May, and Canada Day, July 1st.) Some people just don’t have an ounce of sense in their concrete craniums. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2007, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/darwin-award-winners-fourth-of-july-specials/410494/8 "2007-07-04T14:48:47Z")
As a total aside, it seems like this year I’ve heard less fireworks going off in the neighborhood than any year I remember. I wonder if that means anything – probably not. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2007, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/darwin-award-winners-fourth-of-july-specials/410494/9 "2007-07-04T14:52:40Z")
[QUOTE=Mindfield] What galls me are the kids I see chasing other kids with fireworks in their hands, firing them off at the one being chased. [/QUOTE] At my best friend’s wedding, when we were 25, I got seated at a table consisting of a few friends and a ton of cousins. One of the cousins said “hey, I don’t know if you’ll remember me, but I do remember you from (friend’s little brother)'s first communion…” “Oh, I do remember you. Want to see the scars from where I caught that firecracker you threw at me? 😛 😃 I sure hope you learned not to throw fireworks at people!” No bad feelings but for many years I had these two burn scars very close to my navel, one of them about 2" long. ---
**Author:** ![lavenderviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/cdc98d/32.png) [@lavenderviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lavenderviolet)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2007, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/darwin-award-winners-fourth-of-july-specials/410494/10 "2007-07-04T14:57:23Z")
[This article has more details about her](http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070704/METRO/707040375). She sounds like a nice enough person…probably just someone who had a moment of poor judgement. It’s easy to say she was an idiot from our positions, when we’re sitting at home with the benefit of hindsight and time to think things through, but I can imagine how at the moment it happened the natural reaction to check what’s wrong when something doesn’t work like you expect it to might over-ride the proper judgement of staying away from the explosive. When you’re in the middle of a chaotic environment like a big crowd (perhaps distracted by having to keep an eye on your kid on top of that), and considering the fact a firework accident can happen so fast, I can see how plenty of otherwise intelligent people might make such a mistake. ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2007, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/darwin-award-winners-fourth-of-july-specials/410494/11 "2007-07-04T15:12:25Z")
[QUOTE=Mindfield] It’s a shame it went down like that, though – I’d be horrified beyond words. But then I’d not have let someone I loved do something so stupid as to light a firework while hovering over top of the business end. [/QUOTE] Looking at the article, I’m not actually sure she stuck her head over a mortar after all. It almost sounds like they just lit the fuses of the mortar _rounds_. What was telling was this sentence: _“One round hit the Lincoln Park woman, while the other 25 mortars continued to explode in sequence, keeping rescuers at bay, Welch said.”_ My old roommate and I were certified to blow up high level, commercial grade display fireworks. We were on the crews of a few July 1 (Canada Day) events. 25 mortars is a LOT. I’ve never seen more than 20 at once (really big shows certainly have 25 or more, but I’ve only been on site for smaller municipal gigs) Our set-ups [looked pretty much like this](http://japan-fireworks.com/nagano/alps.jpeg) (only ours were at more of an angle so they wouldn’t drop down on our heads). I can’t imagine that a family setting off fireworks in a parking lot would have all that. You can get smaller, one-shot, pre-loaded mortar fireworks, which are big and fun (and still dangerous) for family events… But they had **“commercial grade”?** If commerical grade fireworks were launching from the mortars, they would be shot up way high into the air and running over to rescue her wouldn’t have been that big a deal. Mortar rounds have two charges (sort of). One goes FOOMP! and launches the charge into the air, then the secondary charge does the bright lights, crackle pops, booms etc. If they lit them, but didn’t have a proper way of launching them up and away, then zoiks! **Disclaimer:** The way fireworks are graded in Canada may differ from the U.S. so I may be interpreting the article quite differently, and not totally understanding exactly what these folks had. ETA: :smack: The post right before mine explained it. Yup, she stuck her head in front of a mortar and yup they were professional grade fireworks. ::: sigh :: ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2007, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/darwin-award-winners-fourth-of-july-specials/410494/12 "2007-07-04T15:23:30Z")
[QUOTE=Boyo Jim] I think the thread title is an unjustified tease. Nowhere does the OP link claim her head was actually blown off. [/QUOTE] If you watch the video interview with (I think) the woman’s mother, she says (words to the effect) “They won’t let me see her, they won’t let me see my baby because… because… \ too terrible”. Later in the same footage, an official says something about _catastrophic_ head injury. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2007, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/darwin-award-winners-fourth-of-july-specials/410494/13 "2007-07-04T16:26:40Z")
[QUOTE=Mangetout] … but also.. this just isn’t funny. Dumbasses killing themselves in stupidly predictable and reckless ways can be funny. Mothers being killed in front of their children by what amounts to a stupid accident, is not. [/QUOTE] Comedy = Tragedy + distance Was this death tragic? Yup. Is she related to me? Nope, plenty of distance. Sorry, this is comedy gold. ---
**Author:** ![picker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/picker/32/13969_2.png) [@picker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picker)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2007, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/darwin-award-winners-fourth-of-july-specials/410494/14 "2007-07-04T16:28:14Z")
[QUOTE=Boyo Jim] As a total aside, it seems like this year I’ve heard less fireworks going off in the neighborhood than any year I remember. [/QUOTE] Thats because they’re all shooting them off by my house, on Olin. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2007, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/darwin-award-winners-fourth-of-july-specials/410494/15 "2007-07-04T16:45:22Z")
[QUOTE=Mangetout] If you watch the video interview with (I think) the woman’s mother, she says (words to the effect) “They won’t let me see her, they won’t let me see my baby because… because… \ too terrible”. Later in the same footage, an official says something about _catastrophic_ head injury. [/QUOTE] The absolute _scariest_ thing when you’re working on a fireworks crew is when a shell goes off prematurely! We always had to wear a firefighter’s coat and _helmet_. A fire fighter’s helmet was the best because it provided a lot of protection from the sides. If you were lighting fuses, you’d light the fuse, drop the shell into the mortar and then turn your back and hunch so that the helmet protected the back of your head and neck. Why? Cause if one of them went off prematurely, it could blow your skull to pieces. The instructor at the government certification course had a helmet on display that had been destroyed by a firework shell. The first FOOMP didn’t go off properly, so instead of going up 200-300 feet before the secondary charge, the secondary charge went off when it was only about 20-30 feet in the air. So the pretty flare hit the back of the helmet smashing it, and we were told the guy wearing it had a good chunk of his skull got busted to bits. There was a before and after photo of the back of his head. One was all purple and full of stitches, the other was from when it was all healed. It looks kind of like a big, round dent in his head. Remember that was the _secondary_ charge: the one that sents the pretty twinkles out sideways in that pretty pom-pom of light. The _first_ charge is the one that sends that round brick of powder 200-300 feet into the air. I wouldn’t be at all surpised if her face was gone. And the premature second blast happens a lot more than you’d think. You get quite the adrenalin buzz when that happens. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2007, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/darwin-award-winners-fourth-of-july-specials/410494/16 "2007-07-04T16:51:22Z")
What does it mean that I predicted this would be a Michigan resident before clicking the link? I live in Michigan, I should add. It just seems like the kind of incident to occur around here. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2007, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/darwin-award-winners-fourth-of-july-specials/410494/17 "2007-07-04T17:15:12Z")
[QUOTE=lavenderviolet] [This article has more details about her](http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070704/METRO/707040375). She sounds like a nice enough person…probably just someone who had a moment of poor judgement. It’s easy to say she was an idiot from our positions, when we’re sitting at home with the benefit of hindsight and time to think things through, but I can imagine how at the moment it happened the natural reaction to check what’s wrong when something doesn’t work like you expect it to might over-ride the proper judgement of staying away from the explosive. When you’re in the middle of a chaotic environment like a big crowd (perhaps distracted by having to keep an eye on your kid on top of that), and considering the fact a firework accident can happen so fast, I can see how plenty of otherwise intelligent people might make such a mistake. [/QUOTE] You sound like a pleasant person, trying to see her side of it. But I’m sorry - when you are involved with explosives, you need to plan ahead and concentrate. (It’s doubly important when you’re a mother.) If it’s chaotic atmosphere, where lethal accidents happen, why are you looking after both your kid and the fireworks? This woman sounds like the sort of driver who tries to light a cigarette, then drops it into her lap, then causes a pile-up. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2007, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/darwin-award-winners-fourth-of-july-specials/410494/18 "2007-07-04T18:09:53Z")
[QUOTE=Nava] No bad feelings but for many years I had these two burn scars very close to my navel, one of them about 2" long. [/QUOTE] Cite? ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2007, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/darwin-award-winners-fourth-of-july-specials/410494/19 "2007-07-04T20:00:19Z")
[QUOTE=glee] You sound like a pleasant person, trying to see her side of it. But I’m sorry - when you are involved with explosives, you need to plan ahead and concentrate. (It’s doubly important when you’re a mother.) If it’s chaotic atmosphere, where lethal accidents happen, why are you looking after both your kid and the fireworks? [/QUOTE] I’m with **glee** , here. If you don’t realize that fireworks, especially professional grade fireworks, are dangerous explosives, you shouldn’t be doing anything anywhere near them. I hope that they find the supplier, too, and criminal charges come through - this is why laypersons shouldn’t be playing with professional grade fireworks. (Speaking with only chemical technician training, a fondness for mixing the “DO NOT MIX” chemicals [and most of those were total busts, dammit.], and some black powder experience. It is possible I’m bringing more than normal experience to this topic, but… getting professional grade fireworks - doesn’t that imply at least some kind of extra knowledge?) ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2007, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/darwin-award-winners-fourth-of-july-specials/410494/20 "2007-07-04T20:14:37Z")
[QUOTE=Tuckerfan] Cite? [/QUOTE] Sorry, I don’t have any pics and the scars have faded by now (it’s been 27 years) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/darwin-award-winners-fourth-of-july-specials/410494.md?page=2)