In Bremen, Germany, a month after Christmas two elderly but seemingly still tough ladies of 94 and 96 lighted the candles of their now late christmas tree for a lst time before throwing it out. A twig caught fire setting the whole and by that time very dry tree on fire instantly thus causing an dust explosion which found its way through the window by way of a gigantic explosive flame sheding glass nearly 20 feet into the garden. The ensuing blast wave extinguished the fire, the two ladies remained unharmed. Give both a box of matches, send them into a good dry wood and see what happens.

Submitted on 01/26/2005

Submitted by: Beate Kramer
Reference: www.spiegel-online, Wednesday,

Copyright © 2005 DarwinAwards.com

Daniel said:
Neutral: Honorable Mention
I think we got this story when it happened, and 94 & 96 are beyond breeding, but I enjoyed it. Thanks.

Charles said:
Neutral: Honorable Mention

Jack said:
Neutral: Honorable Mention
I'm dubious about this for technical reasons, but it's a good story and I must admit that I heard about stranger things happening in an explosion.

Kelly said:
Definitely Toss: Other
I assume they'd been lighting the candles for at least a couple weeks, and didn't have any real reason to believe that anything would happen if they lit them one more time. They didn't light the tree, so this is a rather spectacular accident, not an act of stupdity.

Becky said:
Neutral: Honorable Mention
Actually, this sort of accident is exactly why electric lights were created for christmas trees. Putting candles on the branches is an old tradition, but the risk of fire grows day by day, as the tree drys out.

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