Charles Darwin's Darwin Awards 
HOME
Darwin Awards
Honorable Mentions
Urban Legends
Personal Accounts
Slush Pile
2008 March Slush
Yamashita Treasure
(Hmm)Ugg Boots and Level Crossings
DA:Prank turned punishment
(HM)Workplace Fling
(Hmm)Kitty-Kitty-Kitty!
DA:Steel is valuable...
(?)Police identify father, son killed
(?)How stupid can you be??
(Hmm)Where there's Smoke ...
(HM)Roundabout Rocket
(HM)Orcas Eco-terrorism
(HM)Headshot
(?)Real life Frogger
(?)Runs in the Family
(?)Alcohol and me don't mix
(HM)Burners can't fly
(?)Flash Flood Runners
(?)woman + cellphone + train = splat
bye bye testicles
(?)Yakuza shoots his own head
DA:Crash Test Cart
Volcano climber cheats death
Russian Roulette -Honorable Mention
Father knows best
Sex with Lock Dangerous
Be sure it's out before tossing it.
Man electrocuted stealing copper
Ticket to ride
You ride INSIDE the car
Redneck bee exterminator (writeup)
I think I forgot something...
Man blown out of truck dies
Fork Lift Truck Doughnut
Sex change... Shotgun sex change.
fireworks and diesel fuel
Teen flying kite from car
End of the line
Honourable mention - total idiot te
How not to tame a croc
Stealing a safe and dying under it
Return of 'Where there's Smoke"
gotta go
Drifting and a 'razed' view
Teen love caught hanging in the bal
Let's see how you measure up!
Man killed while beating would-be r
Man dies when wind flips mattress
Taking out the Trash...
Shortcut to street cred
Modern day tarzan
Desert party brawl turns fatal with
Addicted to Butane
OWCH!!!
How Not to Kill a Pet Rat
Party Guest Tragedy
Woman killed by train
Stealing Cooper Wire = Deadly Fire
Shocking sex death ruled homicide
Man electrocuted in theft of wire,
The French Fries Experience
Thieves risk lives to steal metal
barbacue pit
Diving drunk while sleeping
Millions of pieces
Australian Man Gunned Down in Drive
Don't Go Bouldering with a Whacko
An erotic- accident
Older Slush 
 
~ Randomizer ~
Newsletter
Gift Shop
Rules  Search
Contact Darwin
Submit a Story
Philosophy Forum
Home

  

Darwin Awards
2008 Slush Pile

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

Stealing Cooper Wire = Deadly Fire

2008 Reader Submission
Pending Acceptance

By Molly Hennessy-Fiske, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

El Monte - Police say a man attempting to remove copper electrical wiring from an El Monte business died this morning after the building caught fire.

Firefighters discovered the man's body after they responded to reports of smoke at 12114 East Garvey Ave. shortly after 6:15 a.m. They extinguished the fire within about 15 minutes and then found the dead man in a small room containing an electrical panel that appeared to have been tampered with, said Los Angeles fire Inspector Frank Garrido.

The man was not carrying identification, Garrido said, and had not been identified this morning.

"It appeared that he was tampering with the electrical wire and something set off a spark which created a fire," said El Monte Police Lt. Dan Burlingham.

Burlingham said it was possible that the man had been electrocuted before the fire started.

El Monte police have investigated several recent incidents of copper wire thefts in the area, Garrido said. But he said the Fire Department has not seen any recent fires related to copper wire thefts.

The death is the second in less than a week connected to an incident at an electrical panel.

Last week, a veteran Los Angeles city firefighter was killed and another firefighter was critically injured when sparks from a circular saw they were using to cut through a metal door to a smoking electrical vault ignited a powerful explosion.

The firefighters had responded on Wednesday to reports of manhole cover explosions and a fire. They were attempting to reach the source of the smoke at the time of the deadly blast.

Submitted on 03/31/2008

Submitted by: Walter
Reference: Los Angeles Times, 3/31/08

Copyright © 2008 DarwinAwards.com

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

Chip said:
Definitely Keep: For Darwin's Eyes
Will these idiots never learn? Of course, the recidivism rate is pretty small. Here you go, Darwin. Another for the growing collection. Thanks, Walter


Bruce said:
Definitely Keep: For Darwin's Eyes


The Darwin Awards: Evolution in Action

Hardback. 327 pages. Autographed.
$15
185 Stories! In the ongoing saga of Survival of the Fittest, meet the thief who steals electrical wires without shutting off the current! Marvel at the would-be pilot who suspends his lawnchair from helium balloons! Learn from the man who peers into a gas can using a cigarette lighter...!

This book also includes a History of the Darwin Awards, Darwin Haiku, and a dozen humorous discussions of the implications of evolution, including the origin of idiots, and the role of testosterone.

Autographed by Author!

Slush Pile
Slush Pile Rejects


Advanced Search

HomeRulesFAQsAwardsSlushSite Map
DarwinAward | HonorableMention | PersonalAccount | UrbanLegend