Man Dies Instantly After Launching Firework From Top of Head
A Maine man was killed instantly on Saturday when he ignited a fireworks mortar he had placed on his head, WCHS reports, an incident the victim’s brother described as “a freak accident.”
Authorities say 22-year-old Devon Staples had been drinking and setting off fireworks with friends when he placed the mortar tube on his head at around 10 p.m. From the Associated Press:
Staples, 22, of Calais, a small city on the Canadian border, placed a reloadable fireworks mortar tube on his head and told his friends he was going to light it, [Department of Public Safety spokesperson Stephen] McCausland said. But his friends urged him to stop.
“Apparently, he thought that was a great idea,” McCausland said. “His friends they thought dissuaded him from doing it, and the next thing they knew, he ignited the fireworks and he was killed instantly.”
“There was no rushing him to the hospital. There was no Devon left when I got there,” brother Cody Staples told the New York Daily News. “Devon was not the kind of person who would do something stupid. He was the kind of person who would pretend to do something stupid to make people laugh.”
