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2006 January Slush
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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!

Heart Ablaze

2006 Reader Submission
Pending Acceptance

Forsaken love may drive some men to extremes, especially those suffering from testosterone poisoning. This young man of 20 years tried to win back his ex girlfriend with a romantic date. His preparations included covering the couch with roses and forming a heart on the living room floor out of 220 tea candles (these are in small aluminium cups and may be used to keep a coffee pot hot).

These candles he lit as a final step before driving off to pick up his maiden of choice. Without noticing that the multitude of candles gives off substantial heat. And forgetting that leaving candles burning unsupervised is an invitation for disaster.

When he returned and opened the door, it was not his ladies heart that was inflamed with passion, but the floor. Application of several buckets of water did not resolve the problem, but a freindly neighbor managed to control the blaze with a fire extinguisher.

Noone was injured in the incident, but the young man may yet go on to win a Darwin Award in the future, as a delay of a couple of minutes could well have created a "backdraft" situation where opening a door has explosive consequences...

http://steiermark.orf.at/stories/83710/

PS: One candle generates approximately 13.7 watts. 220 candles just over 3 kilowatts - the power of a small stove. Placing candles in close proximity will quickly melt (~70°C) and then vaporise the wax. Wax vapor will burn without a wick.

Submitted on 01/19/2006

Submitted by: Gunter
Reference: ORF, Jan 19 2006

Copyright © 2006 DarwinAwards.com

Great? 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 Awful?
Love it! Hate it!
>> Moderator Scores <<

Jack said:
Neutral: Honorable Mention
I'm of mixed feelings (since he did endanger both his girl friend and her neighbors), but I'll give the young man a half thumbs up for his romantic feelings. Thanks, Gunter, and *please* keep an eye out for this guy next month - Lord knows what he might decide to do for Valentine's Day!


James said:
Neutral: Honorable Mention
I rather liked this story, particularly the write-up! Maybe the incident wasn't REALLY life-threatening (hence my neutral vote), but given what this fellow did to impress his ex-girlfriend, he certainly has potential. I guess there was a reason (his propensity for stupidity?!) she left him in the first place! Thanks, Gunter!


Greg said:
Maybe Toss: Honorable Mention
I'm really not sure on this, since his reckless behaviour was more likely to harm others than himself. Certainly borderline and stupid enough to earn a DA in the future, as long as he doesn't take anyone else with him!


Tracy said:
Neutral: Honorable Mention
I like this writeup - and the situation is funny. He just needs to think of something for Valentines Day now, and we may have a DA!


Charles said:
Neutral: Honorable Mention
I'll go along with the majority here. Yes, there was sufficient stupidity here to make it Darwin-worthy, particularly as you can't possibly light that many candles without noticing that there is significant heat being generated...


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