Free Republic

An Oxon Hill man was critically injured when he tried to pour kerosene into a lighted space heater in his living room early Sunday, fire officials said. The 50-year-old man, who was not immediately identified, suffered burns to 70 to 80 percent of his body, according to Prince George’s County Fire Chief Marc Bashoor. He said the burns included respiratory damage that is difficult to survive. Firefighters were summoned to the single-family home in the 5100 block of Boulder Drive at 5:15 a.m. to find that the kerosene had ignited the area of the living room surrounding the heater. The...

I've heard people use the expression "out of my mind", "temporary insanity", "I wasn't myself", etc. I've never paid much attention to these expressions and always believed them to be BS. Then I experienced it this 4th of July. No point in going into too many details leading up to the event. It did not end in violence or damage to personal property. I received a series of threats via voicemail, phone calls, and text messages. And then something changed in my brain. It was like a switch was turned on. The rage was so intense and powerful and instantaneous...

TSA strip searches young boy.

Koral Wira, 14, was fishing with her parents and a friend near Venice, Fla., when a barracuda went for her dad's bait and ended up biting her instead. Her dad, Rob Parker, submitted these photos and Wira told the story. After anchoring the boat 4 miles off shore, Parker baited his rod with herring. Wira switched seats to get out of the hot sun, and watched as her dad cast. Moments later, she heard a splash and saw a long silver flash in the air. A barracuda jumped from the water and opened its mouth. As it hit her left...

NEWARK -- A man was in critical condition Friday night when he accidentally lit himself on fire with a cigarette while cleaning motorcycle parts and unintentionally splashed himself with gasoline, authorities said. The incident occurred at 7:57 p.m. at a residence on 14th Avenue near South 19th Street where a man was cleaning motorcycle parts when he splashed himself with gasoline, said Newark Fire Chief Michael Lalor. He then lit a cigarette and accidentally lit himself on fire, Lalor said. Relatives rushed over and put the flames out.