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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!

Tarp, Shmarp!

2006 Reader Submission
Pending Acceptance

March 9th, 2005, North Park, near sunny San Diego, California. The Mission Gardens condominuim complex was due for fumigation. Every occupant had known for weeks. Residents signed paperwork to this effect, the manager spoke with them, and notices were posted everywhere. To ensure no one could possibly be caught unawares on the day of fumigation, after wrapping the tarp around the condos, D&S Fumigation workers carefully checked through each and every unit. Only when they saw all was empty did they start pumping.

Soonafter this they heard Linda Williams screaming from inside her formerly vacated condo.

Did she worry that the open windows and doors under that tarp invited burglers, and didn't trust the legions of workers and poison gas to keep her stuff safe? Could she not go without her soap opera that day? Did she think the circus had come to Mission Gardens, and didn't want to pay for her ticket? For whatever unknown reason, Linda, a 37-year-old resident who lived in a downstairs unit, decided to sneak back into her apartment after it had been wrapped in that big, striped tarp emblazoned with signs that said things like DANGER, POISON GAS, and IF YOU ENTER YOU WILL DIE. To do this, she had to bypass big trucks with canisters marked POISON, move the heavy sandbags that weighed the tarp down, wriggle in under the tarp, climb in through an open window, and carefully time her entry to avoid the safety sweeps in her determination to re-enter the building.

It's unlikely that the actual fumigation gas killed her. Such deadly roach-killing chemicals as Vikane are odorless and colorless, so less-lethal tear gas is first thing pumped in to flush out kids, animals, and Darwin-Award-wannabees like Linda. Workers hauled her out as soon as they heard her cries, but apparently the irritant was too much for her. She died at Mercy Hospital a few hours later.

Submitted on 07/11/2006

Submitted by: Amy Dickinson
Reference: Channel 10 news, 3/9/2005

Copyright © 2006 DarwinAwards.com

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

James said:
Definitely Keep: Darwin Award
Here's a direct link: http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20050309-1554-ca-fumigationdeath.html Amy, I think we have a winner! While we don't know for certain if she snuck in, it is IMO the most likely scenario. Had it not been the case, I imagine a hefty lawsuit would have been filed by now! Sneaking INTO a roomful of poison gas is about as stupid as it gets! A keeper...!

Fitzroy said:
Definitely Keep: Darwin Award
Yeah, we don't hear about one like this every day. I have sympathy for the workers who might have face self-doubt after the experience. Clearly the decedent was at fault here, and in a spectacular way at that.

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