Calais, ME – Maine Man Dies Instantly After Launching Firework Off Head

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    FILE - Devon Staples  (facebook)Calais, ME – A young man who was drinking and celebrating the Fourth of July tried to launch a firework off the top of his head, fatally injuring himself, authorities said Sunday.

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    Devon Staples and his friends had been drinking and setting off fireworks Saturday night in the backyard of a friend’s home in the small eastern Maine city of Calais, said Stephen McCausland, a spokesman for the state Department of Public Safety. Staples, 22, of Calais, placed a fireworks mortar tube on his head and set it off, he said.

    The firework exploded, killing Staples instantly, McCausland said.

    His death is the first fireworks fatality in Maine since the state legalized fireworks on Jan. 1, 2012, authorities said.

    Calais is on the Canadian border near New Brunswick.

    State fire marshals were also investigating several other Fourth of July fireworks accidents involving injuries in Friendship, Jefferson, Lebanon and Woodstock. They said most of the accidents involved burns and eye injuries. McCausland said further details were expected to be released later Sunday.

    In 2011, lawmakers voted to repeal a 1949 law banning fireworks, reasoning the industry would create jobs and generate additional revenue.


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    17 Comments
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    OyGevald
    OyGevald
    8 years ago

    Hmmm. That indeed is unlawful. All in the American cause of “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of happiness”. But death isn’t included.

    8 years ago

    There’s no cure for stupidity.

    8 years ago

    brainiac. And a drunk one to boot.

    Lodzker
    Lodzker
    8 years ago

    for shame. He was quite a good looking young guy.

    Alcohol kills.

    yaakov doe
    Member
    yaakov doe
    8 years ago

    Probably the stupidest thing a person can do.

    8 years ago

    Dangerous to the fool. Ignorant to the slave. But it was yet done by the drunk. Which condition is worse?

    8 years ago

    Every July 4th, in the USA, there are hundreds of people injured (pre-teens, teens, young adults, and older people), including some fatally, because of the following:
    a) Negligent parents, who allow small children to handle fireworks;
    b) Careless adults and teens, who fool around with such devices, often under the influence of alcohol;
    c) Hooliganism which takes place, whereby gangs or groups of rowdy individuals, go on an orgy of setting off those horrible devices, often disturbing the peace and tranquility of residential neighborhoods.
    There is nothing in the U.S. Constitution which mandates setting of illegal fireworks, (bottle rockets, cherry bombs) every year. If people want to see fireworks, they should go to a public fireworks display. However, in most jurisdictions, it is illegal for individuals to possess such explosive, dangerous and noisy devices, and set them off, with impunity.
    Unfortunately, people seem to think that they have a right to engage in reckless, careless, annoying, and illegal behavior. Also, law enforcement in this area, appears to be lax.

    Mark Levin
    Mark Levin
    8 years ago

    One thing is for sure…. He didn’t blow his brains out.

    OntheOtherHand
    OntheOtherHand
    8 years ago

    What a shame… He just started using his head.

    8 years ago

    Just speechless.

    8 years ago

    I thought I would not be able to find a more ignorant and immature fool than the subject of this story, and then VIN prints comments from a whole list of people proving me absolutely wrong.