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Kent (WA) Man Killed By Exploding Lava Lamp
KOMO TV News (Seattle, WA) ^ | 11/30/04 | Kevin Reese

Posted on 11/30/2004 4:57:24 AM PST by scooter2

KENT - "Philip has been a kid who tinkers with things ever since he was little," a grieving Claudia Quinn told KOMO 4 News Monday night after her son's bizarre and tragic death.

Sunday, 24-year-old Philip Quinn was tinkering with a lava lamp at his home in Kent. His girlfriend and his parents became worried when they couldn't find him and couldn't get him to answer his phone.

Claudia and Bill Quinn drove from their home in Auburn to check on their youngest son. They thought maybe he'd just overslept. They were devastated by what they found.

"I looked around the corner and saw his body slumped there in the corner and just couldn't believe what I saw," said Quinn's father.

"There was glass from the kitchen clear to the living room," his mom told us. "They said it appeared that a piece of glass punctured his heart."

Philip, in a fatal act of experimentation, had placed a lava lamp on the kitchen stove. When used properly and heated only by a small lightbulb, 40 watts in most cases, a lava lamp is essentially harmless: a mix of wax or oil and water sealed in a glass bottle with a small air space at the top of the bottle to allow for the liquid to expand under heat.

"It wasn't bubbling fast enough for him," his mom guesses. "Because when we walked in the stove was on at the lowest setting."

Even at the lowest setting the amount of heat was too much. As Philip watched the lava lamp on his stove the pressure began to build too much and too fast until it essentially exploded like a grenade, showering him with glass and sending a large shard deep into his chest.

He was found just a few feet away from the stove. He bled to death and never had a chance to call for help. The King County Medical Examiner has ruled the death accidental.

Police found no evidence of drug or alcohol use.

Philip Quinn leaves behind a 15-month old daughter. He was also the youngest of three brothers. Funeral services are planned for this Saturday.


TOPICS: News/Current Events; US: Washington
KEYWORDS: breaking; bubbles; darwinawardfinalist; justdamn; lavalamp; riskyscheme; stovetopsnuffing; themightystupidquinn; worstlampever
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To: bd476; Thinkin' Gal

Killed by lava ping.


81 posted on 11/30/2004 7:28:16 AM PST by Lijahsbubbe
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To: Tijeras_Slim
"Where to begin?"

I'd begin by suing Timothy Leary's corpse.

82 posted on 11/30/2004 7:30:28 AM PST by F16Fighter
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To: RadioAstronomer

Great story! Wait'll the cat lovers in my family hear this one!


83 posted on 11/30/2004 7:33:10 AM PST by Lijahsbubbe
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To: shezza

When lava lamps are outlawed, only outlaws will have lava lamps!


84 posted on 11/30/2004 7:34:18 AM PST by rightwingreligiousfanatic (You cannot stop me...... I'll just make...... a "move"........)
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To: dead

LOL! I never saw that before. :-)


85 posted on 11/30/2004 7:35:19 AM PST by RadioAstronomer
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To: NotJustAnotherPrettyFace

Indeed it would have LOL

BTW, Cool link! :-) Thanks!!


86 posted on 11/30/2004 7:36:14 AM PST by RadioAstronomer
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To: Lijahsbubbe

It still make me laugh when I tell or remember it. :-)


87 posted on 11/30/2004 7:36:43 AM PST by RadioAstronomer
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To: RadioAstronomer

make = makes Sigh!!!


88 posted on 11/30/2004 7:41:26 AM PST by RadioAstronomer
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To: martin_fierro; mikrofon; Tijeras_Slim; Constitution Day; Chad Fairbanks; dead

Today we salute you, Mr. Lava Lamp Heater Upper. Some men are satisfied with the slow undulation of a lazy lamp, but it's not bubbling fast enough for you. "Warp speed, Mr. Sulu!" you cry from the bridge of your starship. You're in search of the Mount St. Helens of lava lamps. Sure, it's risky, but did that stop Galileo or Louis Pasteur or Ron Popeil? So turn up the burner, Baron of the Bubbles. You play by only one rule, Mr. Lava Lamp Heater Upper: If you can't stand the heat, take out the kitchen.


89 posted on 11/30/2004 7:49:47 AM PST by Charles Henrickson (Real Men of Genius.)
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To: Charles Henrickson

BWHAHAHAHAHAH!


90 posted on 11/30/2004 7:50:40 AM PST by Tijeras_Slim (I'm here because I'm not all there.)
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To: CougarGA7

You gotta check out #89!


91 posted on 11/30/2004 7:51:14 AM PST by Tijeras_Slim (I'm here because I'm not all there.)
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To: Charles Henrickson

ROTFLMAO...


92 posted on 11/30/2004 7:52:46 AM PST by Chad Fairbanks (01010010 01001111 01010100 01000110 01001100)
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To: Charles Henrickson

LOL! That is too good.


93 posted on 11/30/2004 7:53:47 AM PST by CougarGA7 (Reporting from the Third World State of New Mexico.)
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To: Charles Henrickson

Well done !


94 posted on 11/30/2004 7:56:13 AM PST by csvset
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To: Charles Henrickson

ROFL!!!


95 posted on 11/30/2004 7:57:25 AM PST by Constitution Day
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To: dead
Where I come from, the mere existence of a Lava Lamp in a home constitutes evidence of drug or alcohol use.
96 posted on 11/30/2004 8:00:39 AM PST by MediaMole
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To: Charles Henrickson; Tijeras_Slim; Constitution Day; mikrofon

I laughed so hard that a wax-like substance escaped from my nose.


97 posted on 11/30/2004 8:02:50 AM PST by martin_fierro (Pardon me.)
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To: scooter2

I blame the stove.


98 posted on 11/30/2004 8:06:53 AM PST by spodefly (I've posted nothing but BTTT over 1000 times!!!)
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To: shezza; MotleyGirl70; Cagey

I don't like the shape of those things, either. Someone could fall backwards onto one of them. I can hear it now: "Million to one shot, doc, million to one!"


99 posted on 11/30/2004 8:11:30 AM PST by Larry Lucido
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To: Charles Henrickson

LOL! Now I can't get that stupid ditty out of my head...


100 posted on 11/30/2004 8:20:47 AM PST by mikrofon (Man who heat item on stove Souper Genius?)
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