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2006 January Slush
(DA)Sudden Stop
(HM)Money or your life?
(?)Sleepy-Time Highway
(DA)Mauled Mugger
(?)Gristle Grind in Pandora
(?)On the road, Sleeping drunk, o
Greedy fuel station owner
One Man's Rubbish...
buffers and fumes dont mix
Clean up chemist
Just Sleep On It
Petrol in Washing Machines
Mousetrap x 2
Brake Fluid for a Toothache?
I said, "GET OUT OF BED!!"
Fire Extinguishers Don't Work
Door to Door Tattoos Sold
McKinley Roll
Giving the fingers
Artist Binds Feet in Desert, L
Toll avoidance
Heart Ablaze
Dumb Kayaker Defeated By Falls
honourable mention jetskier
(PA) Yes, it will explode!
Janitor burns up plane
Keen fishermen
Careful with that gun, Eugene
Escalator Jumping
Snow camping - the wrong place
Neighborly Revenge Backfired
Christmas Fire
Holy men - the army
hunting or the hunted?
Jet Engines Really Suck
The hammer or the nail?
Graduation Elation
The Keg Raft
Grumpy Old Men 3
Taxi driver hitting the road
Ski instructor's warning backf
Fire, Fire, Fire
Sleeping under Snowblowers
Man trapped jump-starting car
Man OK After Falling 130 Feet
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Darwin Awards
2006 Slush Pile

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

buffers and fumes dont mix

2006 Reader Submission
Pending Acceptance

Working in a hospital emergeny room back in the mid-80's.I believed I'd seen a vast cross-section of human stupidity,until I met this guy! A man came in with 2nd and 3rd degree burns on over 90% of his body. How this came to be the man explained was simple....He was intending to strip the varnish off his wooden floors with an electric buffer,but was annoyed the sanding was taking so long and making such a mess,that he decided to make his own industrial strength stripper formulated out of laquer thinner and gasoline to remove the varnish. It being August in the Deep South,he naturally had the windows closed and the air conditioning running.After he decided the mixture had sat on the floor an acceptable length of time,he made his biggest mistake and flipped the switch on the electric buffer,igniting the vapors and causing an explosion that landing him in the burn unit for the next 3 months

Submitted on 01/10/2006

Submitted by: bob hyatt
Reference: 1986

Copyright © 2006 DarwinAwards.com

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>> Moderator Scores <<

James said:
Neutral: Personal Account
What a horrendous waste of gasoline! Actually, I'm surprised he didn't die of asphyxiation, given the strength of his "cleaner" and the windows being closed. Whatever the case, this will pass muster as a PA! Thanks for submitting...


Jack said:
Neutral: Personal Account
I agree with James. Thanks, Bob!


Greg said:
Neutral: Personal Account
I like this too! :-)


Charles said:
Neutral: Personal Account
I do like this one... particularly since, if it had worked, it would have been... well, even without the spark it would have been rather dramatic.


Tracy said:
Neutral: Personal Account
Wow - but I'm amazed he could still breathe in the closed room!


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