# First Maine fireworks death - unbelieveable! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 5, 2015, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-maine-fireworks-death-unbelieveable/724316 "2015-07-05T15:47:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Fir\_na\_tine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Fir\_na\_tine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fir_na_tine)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2015, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-maine-fireworks-death-unbelieveable/724316/1 "2015-07-05T15:47:05Z")
[New way of launching fireworks doesn’t quite work out as expected!](http://www.pressherald.com/2015/07/05/calais-man-dies-after-setting-off-fireworks-from-atop-his-head/) Calais, ME is on the Canadian border for those unfamiliar with the name. ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2015, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-maine-fireworks-death-unbelieveable/724316/2 "2015-07-05T16:05:19Z")
Maine is a State of Mind. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2015, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-maine-fireworks-death-unbelieveable/724316/3 "2015-07-05T16:29:29Z")
Off the top of my head, I can’t think of many things more mind-blowingly stupid. ---
**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 5, 2015, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-maine-fireworks-death-unbelieveable/724316/4 "2015-07-05T17:41:31Z")
Darwin Award candidate. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2015, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-maine-fireworks-death-unbelieveable/724316/5 "2015-07-05T17:45:41Z")
“The man had been drinking…” Ya think? ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2015, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-maine-fireworks-death-unbelieveable/724316/6 "2015-07-05T18:02:46Z")
I blame society. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2015, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-maine-fireworks-death-unbelieveable/724316/7 "2015-07-05T18:06:15Z")
The autopsy will find blood and guts but no brains. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2015, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-maine-fireworks-death-unbelieveable/724316/8 "2015-07-05T18:06:50Z")
What were his last words? “Here, hold my beer and watch this!” ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2015, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-maine-fireworks-death-unbelieveable/724316/9 "2015-07-05T18:08:03Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > “The man had been drinking…” > > Ya think? Most unsurprising line in the news article, really. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2015, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-maine-fireworks-death-unbelieveable/724316/10 "2015-07-05T18:10:29Z")
I’d actually be interested in the cause of death here. Did he expect to launch the mortar from his head, like some kind of living roman candle? (Seems like we’ve seen those extreme Japanese stunt shows do similar things.) Was it the force of the launch, or did the bombe fail to launch and detonate right there on his skull? Blunt force trauma, or severe concussion/internal hemorrage? Inquiring, uh, minds want to know. ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2015, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-maine-fireworks-death-unbelieveable/724316/11 "2015-07-05T18:33:30Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > “The man had been drinking…” > > Ya think? That may just have been the least surprising sentence ever published in a newspaper. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2015, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-maine-fireworks-death-unbelieveable/724316/12 "2015-07-05T18:41:34Z")
July 4th must be the most interesting day of the year to work in an ER. > [@Amatur Barbarian](#): > > I’d actually be interested in the cause of death here. Yea, I have a little trouble picturing exactly how it would kill someone as well, unless it failed to launch and the whole thing just exploded on his head. The article said he died instantly, so it must’ve been pretty dramatic, whatever the mechanism was. ---
**Author:** ![chacoguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2015, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-maine-fireworks-death-unbelieveable/724316/13 "2015-07-05T18:45:33Z")
> [@johnny l.a.](#): > > off the top of my head, i can’t think of many things more mind-blowingly stupid. iswydt ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2015, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-maine-fireworks-death-unbelieveable/724316/14 "2015-07-05T18:49:46Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > I blame society. Nah, Obamacare and gay marriage. Makes for a better Fox headline. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2015, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-maine-fireworks-death-unbelieveable/724316/15 "2015-07-05T18:58:39Z")
Using your cranium as a mortar pad. Because it’s so hard to impress the other guys who are shooting bottle rockets from their anuses. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2015, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-maine-fireworks-death-unbelieveable/724316/16 "2015-07-05T19:04:09Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > I’d actually be interested in the cause of death here. Did he expect to launch the mortar from his head, like some kind of living roman candle? (Seems like we’ve seen those extreme Japanese stunt shows do similar things.) Was it the force of the launch, or did the bombe fail to launch and detonate right there on his skull? Blunt force trauma, or severe concussion/internal hemorrage? > [@Simplicio](#): > > Yea, I have a little trouble picturing exactly how it would kill someone as well, unless it failed to launch and the whole thing just exploded on his head. The article said he died instantly, so it must’ve been pretty dramatic, whatever the mechanism was. Yesterday someone posted a video on FB, where a guy uses the mortar tube as a phallus. Not only did he get quite the knock to the groin, it also set him on fire. I can see that a larger mortar, placed on one’s head, could deliver enough force to kill someone. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2015, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-maine-fireworks-death-unbelieveable/724316/17 "2015-07-05T19:26:14Z")
IIRC from chats with a cousin who used to work for Zambelli Fireworks, that type of item is launched by an explosive charge, not a rocket. Basically, more like a cannon than a bazooka. There would be tremendous recoil, so it might have caved his skull or even snapped his neck. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2015, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-maine-fireworks-death-unbelieveable/724316/18 "2015-07-05T19:29:42Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > Yea, I have a little trouble picturing exactly how it would kill someone as well, unless it failed to launch and the whole thing just exploded on his head. There’s this thing known as Newton’s Third Law of Motion (For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction). He might as well have just aimed the mortar directly at the top of his head. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2015, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-maine-fireworks-death-unbelieveable/724316/19 "2015-07-05T19:29:53Z")
There are plenty of stories about idiot Marines (too easy) during WW2 who tried to fire captured Japanese “[knee mortars](http://cdn2.armslist.com/sites/armslist/uploads/posts/2011/03/15/111195_02_japanese_knee_mortar_type_89_p_640.jpg)” from their knee. Several broken femurs later, they learned that it was only a nickname given because of the curved base plate. And **Scumpup** is correct - I have used that kind of mortar before. The display charge is lofted by an explosive charge at the base. That’s why they are called MORTARS. ---
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2015, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-maine-fireworks-death-unbelieveable/724316/20 "2015-07-05T19:30:17Z")
One fewer Tea Party voter. This should be added to student “health” classes. Don’t drink and drive and don’t drink and launch fireworks from your head. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-maine-fireworks-death-unbelieveable/724316.md?page=2)