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Darwin Awards
2007 Slush Pile

This item was recently submitted by a reader.
Should I include it in the archive?
Vote to tell me what *you* think!

i'm on fire

2007 Reader Submission
Pending Acceptance

DON BURK DON BURK/The Times-Union John Jackson moves the badly burned riding mower that his friend James Paige, 51, was using to move a old junk car. The mower flipped, spilling gasoline over Paige, who was soon covered in flames.

More crime and public safety coverage

First Coast Fugitives

Last modified 7/20/2007 - 5:41 am Originally created 072007

Man covered in flames after lawn mower flips

The mower's gas tank had no cap and gasoline spilled over the 51-year-old man.

By Bridget Murphy, The Times-Union

When Sheryl Griffin heard her companion call her into his backyard Thursday, the Jacksonville woman wasn't prepared for what she saw.

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James Paige was on fire.

Flames soon were scorching the 51-year-old man's shoes and khakis off him, crisping tree leaves 20 feet in the sky as his friend John Jackson tried to beat back the orange agony.

"He looked like a stunt man during a flame show," said witness Raymond Davis, 48.

Davis was working a couple of houses away from Paige's at West 20th and Detroit streets and ran to help in the rescue attempt. He called 911 on his cell phone as the victim's cries cut through the quiet on a sweltering afternoon.

"He was screaming ... 'God! Jesus! Somebody help me!'" Davis recalled minutes after firefighters left with the victim en route to Shands Jacksonville hospital shortly after noon.

Jackson told the Times-Union the fire started by accident after the men hitched Paige's rusted-out '59 Chevy to his riding lawn mower with a heavy chain. They were trying to tow the car to a different part of the yard, he said.

After the car inched forward, Jackson said the lawn mower reared up like a filly and flipped on top of Paige. The mower's gas cap was missing and the makeshift paper plug fell out, soaking Paige in fuel as a spark ignited the hellfire that melted skin off his legs and left arm.

"I was trying to make haste to get water but there wasn't anything around," said Jackson, 51, remembering how he scrambled to fight the fire after pulling the tractor mower off his friend. "I finally got some rags and beat it out."

Rescuers said at the scene that flames burned about 40 percent of Paige's body, Davis told the Times-Union.

Firefighters gave Paige an intravenous drip bag before taking him to the hospital, according to Griffin. The 39-year-old woman said her companion of eight years suffered a stroke in the past and already doesn't have complete use of his left side.

Local doctors later transferred the victim to the burn unit at Shands at the University of Florida in Gainesville, where a hospital spokesman said Paige was in critical condition Thursday evening.

"I just hope he gets better," Griffin said hours earlier in Paige's backyard.

The woman stood with Jackson for a few minutes staring wide-eyed at the burn site before preparing to meet Paige at the hospital.

"I really do appreciate what he did do for him," Griffin said of Jackson. "It was a blessing."

Crumpled by their feet and dark as the soil were her companion's charred shoes.

bridget.murphy@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4161

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Submitted on 07/20/2007

Submitted by: keith
Reference:

Copyright © 2007 DarwinAwards.com

>> Moderator Scores <<

James said:
Definitely Toss: Lacks Excellence
This sounds like an unfortunate accident rather than an egregious act of stupidity, and it isn't exactly all that amusing, either. Nevertheless, we appreciate the submission, Keith!


Bruce said:
Neutral: Honorable Mention
This may have been an accident but it's one that could have easily been prevented. I would think anybody with an ounce of common sense would know that it's not a good idea to operate something like a lawn mower without its gas cap. They bounce around so much that you'd pretty much be guaranteed to splash gasoline out over the hot engine. I've also used a few different riding lawnmowers in my day and know that they aren't designed for pulling heavy objects like a car. Many actually have warnings on them not to attach/pull anything with them because they'll buck just like the article described. Anybody who has used one for any amount of time should know that. Let's see what the other moderators have to say.


Chip said:
Definitely Keep: Honorable Mention
I see several points of note in the story: 1. driving a mobile Molotov Cocktail. No gas cap and a paper plug soaked with gas? Boom in the making there. 2. Pulling an old car from one place in the yard to another with a riding lawnmower? Stupid in itself! I know of no riding lawnmower rated to put a ton or more of derelict metal around a yard. I see an HM here and a DA if the gentleman succumbs to his burns. I also admire the humor in the media write up as well. Thanks for sending the story, Keith


Graham said:
Definitely Toss: Lacks Excellence
Having no gas cap WAS silly but still - this appears to have been an unfortunate accident.


Darwin said:
Definitely Toss: Lacks Excellence
Chip you really know how to spin a DA !!! I thought it lacked "excellence" until I read your moderation. "Driving A Molotov Cocktai" would be a great title! All the same, leaving the "ouch" writing style of the article aside, I think this isn't quite duuuumb enough to be a DA/HM -- but thanks for the submission, Keith!


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