Every year around this time the U.S. government’s Consumer Products Safety Division issues warnings that alcohol and fireworks don’t mix. And every year drunken 4th of July revelers fail to get the message.
The CPSD released a YouTube video showing the dangers of professional fireworks capable of blowing a dummy’s head off. The video is very graphic and to the point.
Devon Staples of Calais, Maine blew his head off when he lit a fireworks mortar tube on his head. Staples had been drinking at a 4th of July party.
“When he suggested he was going to do this, his friends gathered around him and they thought they had convinced him not to do it,” Maine Department of Public Safety spokesman Stephen McCausland told the Bangor Daily News.
Staples’ brother, Cody, told the New York Daily News that Devon held a lighter near the fireworks and it accidentally lighted.
“Devon was not the kind of person who would do something stupid,” Cody said. “He was the kind of person who would pretend to do something stupid to make people laugh.
According to the NY Daily News, Staples used to work at Disney World in Orlando, Florida, where he wore a costume and entertained children.
“He loved making people happy,” said his brother.
