Charles Darwin's Darwin Awards 
HOME
Darwin Awards
At-Risk Survivors
Slush Pile
2008 November Rejects
Black Friday
Suspects are casualties in botched
Man dies in Oneida County after tre
Freak pants fire kills pensioner
You dirty rat you ruined my game!
Plaxico Burress
Man steps out of speeding car after
Toy Buyers Double Shooting TwoFer
Stuck head first in a sewer
Hitchhiking Robber Killed by Car
2 men dead after shots fired in SoC
Moped-orolla
Not such a Quick Getaway
Drunken Idiot drowned in drain
22 year old drowns in street drain
Healer dies from untreated wound
keys to heaven
Yes, pandas are furry...
Hitchhiking Robber Killed by Car
A Really Cold(play) Concert
Rod Hull
Last Concert
Photographing in a storm drain
Titty Twisters
When Bite Beats Bark... Literally.
P for Park
Panda bites student seeking a hug
Self Serve
Brown Eggs
Brown Eggs
Moomin madness
A moomin
Woman falls 15 storeys to her death
Man’s idea to break ATM less than s
Boy, 12, Dies From Excessive Deodor
Suspects are casualties in botched
Boy dies from Deoderant use.
Mother 'flushed baby by accident'
Red Deer Woman Dies in Rollover
Texting+Scooter=Telephone Pole
Texting Without a Helmet
Whip - It
deordorant overdose
Texting can kill
DEO obsession
Fifth Time’s a Charm…
Died while fixing his own airplane
Hey, Watch This!
Teaching Yourself to Fly
Cops: Cape Girardeau woman kills ma
deoderant helps clean up gene pool
Woman dies in balcony fall
Welder -vs- Artillery Shell
Dying for Grilled Meat in Winter
She Can Climb Up!
The Yin Side of Yang (Hug a Panda)
Panda in China zoo bites student wh
Crying over spilled milk
Boy12 died after too much deodorant
Panda Hugs
Welder Succumbs To Blast Injuries
Welder Succumbs To Blast Injuries
Welder Succumbs To Blast Injuries
Student who can't read?
exploding belch
Dogs are only pets.
A South Florida college student kil
Teen Dies After Hood Surfing
Teen dies after hood surfing stunt
Woman falls trying to get into cond
Former Albertan who fell to her dea
Aiken Student Killed While Grilling
19-Year-Old Commits Suicide Live on
Twisted Firestarter
Man killed after crash
students die from grill fumes
students die from grill fumes
Lethal Lynx Effect
Pastry-eating contest claims techie
Listening to Homer... Simpson
Woman was moving into condo before
Woman dies in 15-storey fall from b
Pastry-eating contest claims techie
SpeedFit
The Missing Key
commercial suicide by British Telec
Darwin Awards Throughout History
That Run Down Feeling
Boy, 12, dies from heart failure af
Charcoal Grill, Drinking in Car
"its ok, I'm a Rock Climber"
loo explosion hurls boy out of wind
Woman falls off balcony
Crashing on purpose
Heads up...
Balcony Climbing? Bad Idea...
Woman falls 15 storeys to her death
Woman falls to death
Acrobatic woman misses balcony
woman falls 15 stories.
Couple killed in tunnel by train
Fall from balconey
Wrong Decision
Woman dies in 15 storey fall
Because it's there, or maybe not
I've climbed moutains, this is Easy
Venomous snake on the loose after b
Carjacker Drown
Would you like honey with your toes
Woman climbs balcony, dies in 15-s
Healer dies after failing to ...
Victoria woman falls from balcony
"Healer" dies after failing to trea
Gangrene: 1, Honey Nil
Faith Healer Fails to Heal
Sex education in Singapore
A final free taxi fare
Student arrested twice in same nigh
So _that's_ why he was in the drain
Why _in_ the drain?
Driver hit 55kmh bend at 155kmh
Take a sinking boat
Man drowns in stormwater drain
Tiger Show
scrap metal salvagers
shotglass
Tractor Tree Removal
Pop goes the Artillery Shell
Cat foord
Man Dies During Alleged Wire Theft
Student dies after prop gun dischar
Stolen Paddleboats
Video Game Ultimatum
Wire Thief
US soldier slaps Iraqi
Man fleeing police falls to motorwa
Lions vs. Man
Five die trying to dismantle shell
look before you leap
Toasted Thief
Toasted Thief
Man trying to steal copper dies fro
Shocking Demise
Suspect jumps 6 floors
McDonald's lawsuit
Copper thief crushed by telephone p
Stealing Copper
Man jump into tiger cage in Sin
Man stealing phone wire killed
Copper thief crushed by telephone p
baggy britches
Bird on a Wire
Husband's coffin kills wife on way
Electrocution by microwave
writeup - Man kills self
Woman dies by fence
Royal Navy in firefight with Somal
Husband's Coffin Kills Wife
Taxes were owed on destroyed home
Tree kills Man
Brandon Crisp
Stealing Wire
Woman Joins, Then Quits KKK
Death by Coffin
Give a boy a gun
Liquor Run (Booze and a Pickup}
Liquor Run (Booze and a Pickup}
convenience store robbery
Culling the hurd early
Football dispute leaves 2 dead
garage fire
Alabama Wins Again...Roll Tide
Duck Hunter Defies Death
Man dies after being hit by train
Crimson is....Death!
Into the blithering stupidity
Unable to swim, hunter survives oce
Try harder
Wanted to Swim River
Drunk driver drives to PS
Dying for an X-Box
Flammables and a torch don't mix
Brandon Crisp
Blow Torch Crazy
Man burned himself stealing gas
Man Set on Fire during gas theft
Cobwebs and Blowtorch
Georgia man evicts spiders with blo
Cleaning cobwebs with blow torch
Fire Broom
Brandon Crisp
Home made nailgun
"Terry Fox run"
Quick getaway wasn't quick enough..
Zookeeper killed by bear in Japan
fire victim smoked while on oxygen
DUMB CRIMINAL
Most folks just leave flowers..
satellite tv iinstall kills wife
Riocochet pouts farmer in hospital.
man get eated by piranhas
Bugs Bunny confuses South Pole for
Electrocuted Trying to Rescue Cat
Valet crushes himself with minivan
Teen Crushed to Death While Parking
Teen killed trying to park van
Teen Crushed While Parking Minivan
Not Quite Superman
Runaway minivan crushes teen valet
hunter charged after shooting self
hard head meets concret
hard head meets concret
Burns himself after burning a car
Don't kick a train
Open throat insert pretzel
Biologist Discovers Plague
Older Rejects 
 
~ Random Story ~
Email Alert!
NEW! Gift Shop
Rules  Search
Contact Darwin
Submit a Story
Philosophy Forum
Home

  

Darwin Awards
2008 Slush Pile

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

Freak pants fire kills pensioner

2008 Reader Submission
Pending Acceptance

INCONTINENCE pants manufacturers are being urged to make their products fire resistant after a disabled man burned to death when his caught alight.

Housebound George 'Bill' Martin, 71, died at his Southminster bungalow on February 28 when a cigarette set pads contained in his incontinence pants on fire, turning its cotton wadding into molten globules, an inquest heard.

Essex coroner Caroline Beasley-Murray said she planned to write to the pad makers drawing Mr Martin's tragic death to their attention.

She recorded a verdict of accidental death after police dismissed suspicious circumstances.

Mrs Beasley-Murray said she would also be writing to AB Carers after hearing they had not responded to an offer of free fire checks at the homes of clients they visited.

"It is unfortunate they have not availed themselves of the offer by Essex Fire and Rescue Service."

Assistant divisional fire officer Danny Bruin said the pads were so "highly inflammable" that even if Mr Martin had been able to obtain water, dousing the fire would have been next to impossible.

He said he had contacted the pad makers - but would not identify them - urging them to consider making the wadding fire resistant.

ADO Bruin said forensic tests revealed that once alight the pads turned into molten globules.

He said investigations revealed Mr Martin had placed a lit cigarette on top of a packet of Hula Hoops resting on his lap.

It melted the packet, then the outer covering of his incontinence pants before setting its inner cotton wadding ablaze.

Mr Martin died when his wheelchair became trapped between internal doors at his Kings Road home as he tried to wheel himself to the kitchen to get water.

Coroner's officer Len Jarman said Mr Martin had learning disabilities and latterly suffered from bowel cancer requiring carers three times a day.

The court heard Mr Martin would often have two cigarettes alight at the same time.

Mr Jarman said a post mortem examination carried out at Broomfield Hospital revealed Mr Martin had died of severe burns to his body.

Three AB care workers told the hearing Mr Martin liked to smoke and kept a glass ashtray with him at all times.

But after the blaze it was found by fire investigators broken and discarded in a bin.

After the hearing ADO Bruin told the Essex Chronicle they had been disappointed that AB Carers had not replied to their offer, but would be writing to them again.

"We are still willing to visit the homes of any of their clients and carry out a fire safety check, which would include fitting free smoke alarms, should we be asked to."

Submitted on 11/30/2008

Submitted by: Anonymous
Reference: Essex Chronicle 27/11/2008

Copyright © 2008 DarwinAwards.com

>> Moderator Scores <<

Bruce said:
Definitely Toss: Lacks Excellence
Thanks, but deaths due to fires caused by careless cigarette smoking are extremely common, and the fact that this man learned the hard way that his incontinence pants were highly flammable is a case of lousy luck and not blatant stupidity.


Candi said:
Definitely Toss: Lacks Excellence
What Bruce said. What's interesting is _baby_ diaper packages have a symbol showing they're nonflammable. And they're for a similar purpose.


The Darwin Awards Gift Shop

The Darwin Awards Condom

Keep yourself out of the gene pool!
A condom in a matchbook, useful for emergency contraception, bachelor parties, frat parties, and important rites of passage. LOADED inside and out with funny quotes and stories. Everyone loves this item!
Friends don't let friends reproduce!
$13 for Pack of 4

 

 

Slush Pile
Slush Pile Rejects

HomeRulesFAQsAwardsSlushSite Map
DarwinAward | HonorableMention | PersonalAccount | UrbanLegend