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2010 Slush Pile

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A Patio too far

2010 Reader Submission
Pending Acceptance

Jeff Malecha merely wanted a nice patio for his coffee shop patrons to enjoy. Evidently, the cost of hiring a contractor was too much for Jeff, so he undertook the work himself.

Unfortunately, it was not just a simple matter of calling in the concrete trucks. His coffee shop used to be an Esso station and the gasoline tanks were still in the ground. Jeff elected to remove them. He wisely pumped out all of the remaining gasoline in the two tanks, but he unwisely failed to note that the tanks were full of residual gasoline vapors.

While removing the second tank, it ruptured with Jeff standing on top. There was a spark from an unknown source and suddenly Jeff was hurtling through the sky landing 100 feet away, across the street, in the backyard of a nearby house. No one else was injured, but Jeff did not survive the event. It is not known whether he met his Maker on the way up, or on the way down.

Submitted on 04/08/2010

Submitted by: Rich
Reference: http://fredericksburg.com/News/Web/2010/032010/colonial-beach-explosion-espresso-station

Copyright © 2010 DarwinAwards.com

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Bruce said:
Definitely Keep: Darwin Award
I would have thought the gas station would have been required to empty the tanks and remove them when the station was sold but I guess I'm wrong. In any event, this guy should have known of the danger since he had to pump some gasoline out of the tanks first. He definitely should have contacted an expert to help with the removal of the tanks. Thanks, Rich!

Candi said:
Definitely Keep: Darwin Award
Who's responsible for removing the tanks depends on where and when. But it's NOT a DIY project! Thanks, Rich!

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