25 June 2011

Queanbeyan Darwin attempt fails.

| johnboy
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Three teenagers have suffered burns following an explosion in the backyard of a house in Queanbeyan overnight.

About 11.20pm, emergency services were called to Pound Street where a number of youths were in a distressed state on the front lawn.

Police have been told one of the males injured has approached a backyard-fire with a 60-litre drum containing a flammable liquid which was leaking. It has caught alight and exploded, injuring the youths.

A 16-year-old ACT male suffered burns to his back and both hands and arms.

A 17-year-old Bungendore male has burns to his right leg and right arm and left hand.

A 17-year-old ACT male has burns to his hands only.

The three teenagers were taken by ambulance to Canberra Hospital for treatment.

It is anticipated two of the males will be taken to the Concord Hospital Burns Unit in Sydney for treatment due to the seriousness of their injuries.

Inquiries into the incident are continuing and anyone with any information, who hasn’t yet spoken to police, is urged to contact Monaro Police via Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

[Courtesy NSW Police]

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LSWCHP said :

I think triffid is trying to make the point that the word “electrocuted” is defined as “receiving an electrical shock that results in death” versus just “receiving an electrical shock”.

Thanks, LSWCHP . . . indeed that was the point I was making.

Captain RAAF said :

Hang on a sec, so this young bloke is trying to put the flames out of a bloke on fire and one of the Flash’s mates clocks him one?

A certain name comes to mind, well known for his final escapade from Queanbeyan that this story reminds me a lot of.

Do we have another cup winner?

Gungahlin Al said :

triffid said :

Gungahlin Al said :

I know I managed to electrocute myself three times, once had me slammed into the wall a couple of feet off the ground.

‘Hey zues’, Al, really? So . . . you were killeded — dead — by electrickery three times and miraculously came back to life each time?

LOL

Sorry, mate, couldn’t help it. You recieved three big electric shocks in your time. You can only be electrocuted once I’m afraid.

Bull. 6yo in Scullin, train set had a dodgy transformer with these old jumpers on the front, decided to change them around, wham – a kid really can fly. Old enought to know better, trying to fix the switch in a fan, forget to unplug it first, short circuit from thumb to finger in same hand, only arm flew back that time (wrenched though) and a 2mm hole burned in thumb. Something else when I was a kid, can’t remember. Get the drift? Dumb things happen. Sometimes you get lucky though. Sometimes you don’t.

I think triffid is trying to make the point that the word “electrocuted” is defined as “receiving an electrical shock that results in death” versus just “receiving an electrical shock”.

Gungahlin Al8:57 pm 27 Jun 11

triffid said :

Gungahlin Al said :

I know I managed to electrocute myself three times, once had me slammed into the wall a couple of feet off the ground.

‘Hey zues’, Al, really? So . . . you were killeded — dead — by electrickery three times and miraculously came back to life each time?

LOL

Sorry, mate, couldn’t help it. You recieved three big electric shocks in your time. You can only be electrocuted once I’m afraid.

Bull. 6yo in Scullin, train set had a dodgy transformer with these old jumpers on the front, decided to change them around, wham – a kid really can fly. Old enought to know better, trying to fix the switch in a fan, forget to unplug it first, short circuit from thumb to finger in same hand, only arm flew back that time (wrenched though) and a 2mm hole burned in thumb. Something else when I was a kid, can’t remember. Get the drift? Dumb things happen. Sometimes you get lucky though. Sometimes you don’t.

Gungahlin Al said :

I know I managed to electrocute myself three times, once had me slammed into the wall a couple of feet off the ground.

‘Hey zues’, Al, really? So . . . you were killeded — dead — by electrickery three times and miraculously came back to life each time?

LOL

Sorry, mate, couldn’t help it. You recieved three big electric shocks in your time. You can only be electrocuted once I’m afraid.

Captain RAAF4:11 pm 27 Jun 11

Stela8 said :

I know the ‘17 year old’ involved…

who is in fact still 16years.

From my understanding the fellow who put the drum on the fire was actually 20ish…

NOT a teenager!

The two teenagers were at an 18th birthday party and were planning on heading home soonish.

They were standing minding their own business when this fellow decided to carry a drum of petrol towards the fire…

apparently it began to leak, he caught on fire then panicked dropping the drum!

One teenager caught alight, the other frantically assisted him. The teenager who assisted his burning friend actually received a hit to the face by one of the (drum carrying) fellow’s friends…

a 20-something man!!

Suspected broken cheek bone, loose tooth and huge lip…

whilst trying to help his friend.

Just wanted to get some facts across.

Hang on a sec, so this young bloke is trying to put the flames out of a bloke on fire and one of the Flash’s mates clocks him one?

Sounds like a quality party and not worthy of being stereotyped as typical boganbeyan behaviour……..yeah right.

Gungahlin Al said :

Joe Canberran said :

I-filed said :

Very, very sad – these kids are minors – where I wonder were their parents?

If at 16 you didn’t do things outside your parents’ supervision and/or knowledge I’d be surprised. I did as did a number of my friends. This included coins on train tracks, home made napalm, bullets in campfires, etc.

We all did things as kids (and not so young) that we look back on and think “how could I have been so stupid?” And I doubt the veracity of anyone here who denies it. I know I managed to electrocute myself three times, once had me slammed into the wall a couple of feet off the ground. Then there was the driving…

I remain thankful for coming out the other end of my youth relatively unscarred.

F yeah! Though mine didn’t involve flammable materials. But the combination of copious amounts of alcohol/drugs and friends with cars was just as potentially lethal. So was clambering over roofs and over walls, etc. 20+ years later and I am still amazed that I came out of it (relatively) unharmed! With only a couple of little scars and a shocking short-term memory to show for it.

So I wasn’t passing judgement as in “these kids were more stupid than anyone else”. Teenagers are meant to do stupid thing! It’s called trial and error.

But sounds like the 20yo needs some stern talking to in this case.

foreverknown2:50 pm 27 Jun 11

i sencerly give my respects and apoligies to all boys parents,
the 16yr old i know quite well and although i know that he or friends whould need to hear this but i really hope he does get better he means the world to me and i would never, ever wish harm on him i hope that everyone is copping ok with this.

Gungahlin Al1:25 pm 27 Jun 11

Joe Canberran said :

I-filed said :

Very, very sad – these kids are minors – where I wonder were their parents?

If at 16 you didn’t do things outside your parents’ supervision and/or knowledge I’d be surprised. I did as did a number of my friends. This included coins on train tracks, home made napalm, bullets in campfires, etc.

We all did things as kids (and not so young) that we look back on and think “how could I have been so stupid?” And I doubt the veracity of anyone here who denies it. I know I managed to electrocute myself three times, once had me slammed into the wall a couple of feet off the ground. Then there was the driving…

I remain thankful for coming out the other end of my youth relatively unscarred.

I hope they recover soon. I know there will be injuries, pain and suffering. No more pain and suffering needs to be added by comments here.

Prayers…good thoughts…..

I know the ‘17 year old’ involved… who is in fact still 16years.

From my understanding the fellow who put the drum on the fire was actually 20ish… NOT a teenager!

The two teenagers were at an 18th birthday party and were planning on heading home soonish. They were standing minding their own business when this fellow decided to carry a drum of petrol towards the fire… apparently it began to leak, he caught on fire then panicked dropping the drum!

One teenager caught alight, the other frantically assisted him. The teenager who assisted his burning friend actually received a hit to the face by one of the (drum carrying) fellow’s friends… a 20-something man!!

Suspected broken cheek bone, loose tooth and huge lip… whilst trying to help his friend.

Just wanted to get some facts across.

shadow boxer said :

Bulletts in a campfire !!, seriously, we had fun as 16 year olds but were never that stupid.

Relatively harmless apparently:

http://mythbustersresults.com/episode85

Watson said :

I hope the kid recovers quickly, but if he doesn’t admit that what he did was an incredibly moronic thing to do, I don’t hold out much hope for his future.

I doubt these young men are sitting around jesting about what fun it is to have serious burns and planning their next encounter with a flammable substance. We all make mistakes and some suffer harsher consequences than others. I am sure these boys are suffering intensely. You don’t have to pass judgement. It’s already been dealt.

Pork Hunt said :

Para 3 of the OP says what happened. What need is there for the plod to want to speak to others?

Obviously, there is a *little* more to the story than what the police have a picture of at the moment. Perhaps they want to establish exactly what was in the drum, and what it was doing in a residential area, and probably why it was taken toward a naked fire… Some of the “witnesses” may have scattered when things got ugly… who knows, but perhaps such a serious incident requires a little more than a two sentence paragraph of inquiry.

You know, at 16, you pretty much have to give kids a little freedom and assume your prior years of good parenting gave them some skills to determine things for themselves. 16 (and especially 17) year olds at a party should be a normal occurrence. They are not kids anymore, but neither are they adults. Careless accidents like this happen to adults too – often in the workplace, where you’d expect people to be a little less complacent. Its a bloody awful thing to have happened, whether mucking around was involved, or not…

shadow boxer said :

Bulletts in a campfire !!, seriously, we had fun as 16 year olds but were never that stupid.

Now that’s Darwin at work!

God speed to these young guys.

I hope the kid recovers quickly, but if he doesn’t admit that what he did was an incredibly moronic thing to do, I don’t hold out much hope for his future.

shadow boxer2:47 pm 26 Jun 11

Bulletts in a campfire !!, seriously, we had fun as 16 year olds but were never that stupid.

Joe Canberran2:27 pm 26 Jun 11

I-filed said :

Very, very sad – these kids are minors – where I wonder were their parents?

If at 16 you didn’t do things outside your parents’ supervision and/or knowledge I’d be surprised. I did as did a number of my friends. This included coins on train tracks, home made napalm, bullets in campfires, etc. Young adults (which is what 16 and 17 year olds are) need to be trusted to take responsibility for their own actions and sometimes this results in making bad decisions. Sometimes fatally bad decisions. If you attempt to prevent people from being able to make their own decisions or take risks most will strive harder to do so without your knowledge and/or take bigger risks when they get the chance to prove themselves. Its knowledge and education of the consequences, not supervision, that prevents someone from taking a ‘stupid’ risk.

And although it may mean little with the three lads suffering agonising pain and trauma and likely permanent injuries, the lad (people?) who acted quickly to provide first aid and call for assistance probably saved lives and should be congratulated.

outofhere said :

… if we could cut the judgemental crap, that would be fantastic, considering none of the kids there knew what the hell was going on, and instead congratulate his best friend, who picked him up whilst still on fire, and dragged him to the tap as he had passed out from shock and pain, that boy is a life saver, and if the inevitable wank about it happening in QBN and “Bogans whinge whinge bitch” could be avoided, and instead the fantastic bravery of this young man focussed on instead, that would be fantastic.

Very, very sad – these kids are minors – where I wonder were their parents?

KB1971 said :

6th degree burns????

Is that where it starts on on side and pops out the other?

Given that these kids have suffered such serious burns that two of them have had to be rushed to Concord Hospital’s specialist burns unit, poking fun at them is in rather poor taste. Their and/or their friend’s mistake is going to leave them in great pain and in need of months (and possibly years) of rehabilitation.

Poor kids. They’d be in alot of pain. Hope there’s no permanent damage and they recover soon.

Waiting For Godot said :

outofhere said :

The 16 year old is my best friends younger brother. He has 6th degree burns on his shoulders and is looking at losing his arm,

6th degree burns? That would be a bit difficult seeing how humans only have three degrees of skin.

Yes, 6th is charred bone which is normally diagnosed at autopsy. 4th degree are quite often fatal.

6th degree burns????

Waiting For Godot5:44 am 26 Jun 11

outofhere said :

The 16 year old is my best friends younger brother. He has 6th degree burns on his shoulders and is looking at losing his arm,

6th degree burns? That would be a bit difficult seeing how humans only have three degrees of skin.

The 16 year old is my best friends younger brother. He has 6th degree burns on his shoulders and is looking at losing his arm, if we could cut the judgemental crap, that would be fantastic, considering none of the kids there knew what the hell was going on, and instead congratulate his best friend, who picked him up whilst still on fire, and dragged him to the tap as he had passed out from shock and pain, that boy is a life saver, and if the inevitable wank about it happening in QBN and “Bogans whinge whinge bitch” could be avoided, and instead the fantastic bravery of this young man focussed on instead, that would be fantastic.

The Traineediplomat7:51 pm 25 Jun 11

bravo…clap clap clap

Para 3 of the OP says what happened. What need is there for the plod to want to speak to others?

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