Wednesday, August 15, 2007

For some people, 15 minutes of fame is a curse

Exploding lawn mower destroys house
JOHNS CREEK, Ga. — Danny Fendley tried to start his lawn mower in the garage of his two-story brick home. When he tugged its pull cord, the mower burst into flames. The fire quickly spread through the garage.

So, I'm an editor at the Star Tribune, looking for news stories that I know my readership will be interested in. Hey, here's one: some unlucky sap and his wife in Georgia burn down their house---Stop The Press.

Fendley said his wife tried to toss a can of gasoline out a window as the blaze spread. She missed, spreading the fuel everywhere.

Great job Wonder Woman. Do you think throwing it out the front of the garage door would have given you a little more margin for error.

The flames consumed the house in less than a minute. The couple escaped without serious injury.

No Darwin Awards for these people, lucky for them. What exactly was in this house, a still. It was a brick house. How could it have been gutted in less than a minute.

(p.s. I wonder what brand of lawn mower it was. Maybe it was a redneck mower, and the guy had tricked it up with a jet engine or something)

1 comment:

Bike Bubba said...

Five gallon gas can + gasoline in cars & other power tools + house with wood framing and an open door into the kitchen = quick spread of fire. The ugly reality is that even all brick homes can burn very quickly due to paints, ceiling joists, and such.