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Man sets blaze while trying to kill pesky bees
Associated Press ^ | Jun 5, 2008 | Unknown

Posted on 06/05/2008 4:53:18 PM PDT by decimon

MOBILE — Joshua Mullen just wanted to kill the bees swarming around his utility shed. When Mullen, 26, walked away from the gasoline-soaked towels he was using, he heard a "whoosh" and turned around to see the shed in flames that spread to his rented home and wound up causing some $80,000 in damage.

"There were no injuries, unless you count the bees," Mobile Fire-Rescue spokesman Steve Huffman said.

Huffman said the fire appears to have started when the pilot light of a hot-water heater in the shed ignited fumes from the gas.

Mullen, who rented the home after his Biloxi, Miss., residence was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina, said he had poured gas on some towels the bees were swarming around and then walked away to pick up some trash in the yard.

He managed to get his fiancee and 1-year-old daughter safely out of the house. The blaze was hot enough that it melted some plastic blinds through a closed window on a neighbor's house.

A trained mechanic, Mullen said he has been trained on gasoline flash points and flammability but didn't expect the gas to put off enough fumes to catch fire.

"Looking at all this, there might have been a better way," Mullen said while a few surviving bees buzzed around the ashes of the shed. "It was a mistake. I wish I hadn't done it, but I did."


TOPICS: Local News; Outdoors; Pets/Animals
KEYWORDS: arson; darwinwannabe
"Looking at all this, there might have been a better way,"...
1 posted on 06/05/2008 4:53:18 PM PDT by decimon
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To: decimon

And the Darwin Award winner is...!


2 posted on 06/05/2008 5:00:14 PM PDT by Man50D (Fair Tax, you earn it, you keep it!)
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To: decimon

Oh, that’s one heck of a line at the end of the day... :)


3 posted on 06/05/2008 5:00:39 PM PDT by CaspersGh0sts
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To: decimon

I’m sorry, but isn’t this from an old “Sanford & Son” script?

Arrggh.


4 posted on 06/05/2008 5:00:54 PM PDT by EggsAckley
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To: CaspersGh0sts

Hey hold my beer and watch this.


5 posted on 06/05/2008 5:01:59 PM PDT by TLEIBY308 (I AM PRO CHOICE,I BELEIVE EVERYONE SHOULD CARRY WHAT EVER GUN THEY CHOOSE)
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To: decimon

DumBass beer, the food of chumpions.


6 posted on 06/05/2008 5:02:01 PM PDT by MIchaelTArchangel
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To: decimon
A trained mechanic?

Thank you Joshua, for a lesson in "what not to do."
7 posted on 06/05/2008 5:03:09 PM PDT by SouthDixie (We are but angels with one wing, it takes two to fly.)
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To: decimon
Looking at all this, there might have been a better way

Ya think?!?!?!

8 posted on 06/05/2008 5:03:40 PM PDT by WilDave (Father of a Marine in Iraq)
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To: decimon

Aww, hell, I’m old enough to be wiser, but I’ll still take out a hard to reach wasp nest with a tightly rolled flaming paper towel torch and some WD40 to nuke some hard to reach spots...flame renders all of their wings immediately useless, and the fire thing has a visceral payoff that I’m not ashamed to admit.


9 posted on 06/05/2008 5:08:46 PM PDT by Sax
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To: Sax

When I was a kid I used to use gas in a little spray can. Hit the wasps and they would die immediately. Was kinds interesting once you’d stirred the nest and they were flying after you.


10 posted on 06/05/2008 5:18:00 PM PDT by driftdiver
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To: decimon

Next time my money’s on the bees.


11 posted on 06/05/2008 5:24:37 PM PDT by LiberConservative ("Typical" White Guy)
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To: Sax
...I’ll still take out a hard to reach wasp nest with a tightly rolled flaming paper towel torch and some WD40...

I get the yellow and black wasps. They leave me alone so I leave them alone until there are so many they virtually own the place. Then I start zapping the nests with the standard spray.

12 posted on 06/05/2008 5:25:40 PM PDT by decimon
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To: LiberConservative
Next time my money’s on the bees.

Good bet. You'll never hear a bee say - ""Looking at all this, there might have been a better way,"..."

13 posted on 06/05/2008 5:28:09 PM PDT by decimon
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To: decimon

Here’s your sign.


14 posted on 06/05/2008 5:31:48 PM PDT by DigitalVideoDude (It's amazing what you can accomplish when you don't care who gets the credit. -Ronald Reagan)
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To: DigitalVideoDude

I use an “electric tennis racket” that I bought at Harbor Freight to kill stinging insects. It makes a wonderful ZAP! when you strike a wasp with it.


15 posted on 06/05/2008 5:39:23 PM PDT by Arkansas Toothpick
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To: decimon

I feel smart right now...

Am I the only one that see it?

1. Mullen, who rented the home after his Biloxi, Miss., residence was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.

2. his fiancee and 1-year-old daughter

3. It was a mistake. I wish I hadn’t done it, but I did.”

He IS the PERFECT Democrat. Man he hit ALL three leading indicators of stupidity!

He is good..... /s


16 posted on 06/05/2008 5:58:40 PM PDT by Dacula (I never left the Republican party, they left me a long time ago.)
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To: decimon

Leave...the bees...alone.


17 posted on 06/05/2008 6:30:29 PM PDT by TigersEye (Berlin 1936. Olympics for murdering regimes. Beijing 2008.)
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To: decimon

You think his rental deposit will cover the damages ?


18 posted on 06/05/2008 7:00:37 PM PDT by festus (Tagline removed.)
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To: decimon

Today’s Score: BEES 1, IDIOT 0


19 posted on 06/06/2008 1:09:31 AM PDT by Spktyr (Overwhelmingly superior firepower and the willingness to use it is the only proven peace solution.)
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