On Friday, November 21st the girls, ages 15, 16, and 18, were driving around Wausau, WI and discharging cans of air freshener inside the car in an attempt to get high. After pulling into a local park, one of the girls lighted a cigarette, igniting the vapor-laden air and causing an explosion. The explosion was so severe that it blew out the windows and damaged the frame of the auto.

The 15-year-old, the ignitor of the blaze, was critically injured and taken to a burn center, the other two girls were treated for first and second degree burns and released.

How much air freshener does it take to remove the smell of burnt hair?

http://www.jsonline.com/news/state/sep01/huff09090801a.asp

Submitted on 11/25/2003

Submitted by: Douglas Jones
Reference: Milw. Journal-Sentinel 11/22

Copyright © 2003 DarwinAwards.com

Jack said:
Neutral: Honorable Mention
I'm of mixed feelings about this one, but I'm willing to let it go into the slush pile for the readers to decide.

Daniel said:
Maybe Toss: Honorable Mention
As Dave Barry says; when you put teenagers together the IQ halves with each additional kid. the 18 is marginal, the others ineligible.

Charles said:
Definitely Keep: Honorable Mention
I count this as a double -- trying to get high while driving, and in an atmosphere of spay can fumes, lighting up. Countering this is the fact that girls don't generally play with spray-can blowtorches, and so don't understand the flammability... and to a certain extent the maturity guidelines. Still, this feels like a true HM to me.

Loren said:
Maybe Toss: Lacks Excellence
I still think, although they were VERY stupid, and possibly high at the time, their ages discount them.

Greg said:
Definitely Toss: Too Common
If you can predict the substance of the story from the title, I'm afraid it ends up as "too common", even if the level of stupidity was darwinian.

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