Nessalco Posted April 4, 2016 Posted April 4, 2016 One of our members and an active pyro supplier, Chris DeHont, was injured fighting a fire a few weeks ago, and is now in the ICU as a result of infections secondary to his injuries. His wife is struggling along, but there are no orders shipping from USA Pyro Supply at this time. If you have items ordered, please be patient. If you want something from the site, please do not order at this time. Folks have been making donations directly to the DeHonts to help cover medical bills and immediate expenses. The PayPal address Chris uses is C_DeHont@outlook.com If you wish to donate, I suggest you copy and paste that address - there are formatting issues if you try to type it in directly. The address should default to USA Pyro Supply as the payee. Kevin PS> This was a house fire, not a pyro incident. Chris is a volunteer fire fighter. 1
Nessalco Posted April 6, 2016 Author Posted April 6, 2016 Yeah. There seems to be some question, eh? The info I posted here has been (rightfully) called into question on another site. Seems to be more than a little 'confusion'. Hold on to your funds, folks. KO
otto Posted April 7, 2016 Posted April 7, 2016 Hmmm... I know his Dad from my "day job". I was almost ready to offer sympathy. Maybe I can find out from the horse's mouth.
Nessalco Posted April 7, 2016 Author Posted April 7, 2016 Otto, if so that would be *very* helpful. Kevin
otto Posted April 8, 2016 Posted April 8, 2016 Got an "out of office" reply to my note this morning, I hope that's not bad. I know that's no help. If I hear something I'll share.
calebkessinger Posted April 8, 2016 Posted April 8, 2016 Chris called me this afternoon and we talked for about an hour. Said his mom had called him after someone had inquired to them about him being hurt. HE's not hurt. nor ever was. His explanation was someone hacked his phone and sent out phony messages to me and August. None of the messages i sent back to him ever came through on his phone, It was someone else replying to my messages. Freaky weird deal. Do try again to get a hold of his father and actually speak to him. This whole thing is CRAZY and hard to believe a little radio silence. a few text messages and the whole pyro forum world can be in an uproar. I'm in disbelief of the whole deal myself and I was the one who "Broke the news" of his fictitious injuries. He said he has been super busy with regular life and his real job and hasn't had time to get on here is why we haven't seen him not because he was hurt. I sure hope he shows himself here soon and helps clear this up. Caleb
FlaMtnBkr Posted April 8, 2016 Posted April 8, 2016 That sounds weird. Someone hacked a phone to send text msgs about an injury? That knows him well enough to know his personal life. Where he couldn't receive a reply to his phone? People hack phones to steal bank info, not send weird text msgs. Sounds like he might need to question who he's hanging out with that had physical access to his phone. At least he isn't hurt.
schroedinger Posted April 8, 2016 Posted April 8, 2016 Where the texts send out at aprils fools from someone with a very bad attitude?
FrankRizzo Posted April 8, 2016 Posted April 8, 2016 (edited) Where the texts send out at aprils fools from someone with a very bad attitude? Caleb can probably give more info, but this apparently started back on 3/16 with a txt message response to an inquiry from Caleb about tool orders and money from the USA Pyro Supply web store sale the week prior. The response said: "Being discharged from the hospital in the AM. Been in an induced coma. I'll text you when I'm home." About 6 days later, August also received a verbose explanation of an accident that has left Chris injured. Edited April 8, 2016 by FrankRizzo
lloyd Posted April 8, 2016 Posted April 8, 2016 Sigh.... this has all been very difficult to understand. The sheer detail in all the stories seems to have come from someone who knew every in-and-out of Chris's business. It even came down to Chris stating that he wouldn't let his wife break down virgin drums of chems. The length of time it went on is also of interest. I don't know how (and won't speculate) someone who's accustomed to receiving frequent business commos on his phone would not notice something awry with not receiving ANY of those for most of three weeks. Chris has responded (finally) on FW.com in a lengthy rant about how mean-spirited some folks are for having suspected shenanigans were going on. But he failed, also, to address some of the pressing questions. John Ross did a good job summarizing what the missing pieces are. So... we'll see. I don't have much to lose over all this, so it's a curiosity, not a mission for me. Lloyd
OldMarine Posted April 8, 2016 Posted April 8, 2016 I could cook up a darned good tale if given a fortnight to do so.
ddewees Posted April 8, 2016 Posted April 8, 2016 He's been doing this for awhile... Most just preferred to ignore his wild imagination. My favorite was when his two year old was sending out emails... Or what it the time his truck exploded and he barely survived.. Or was it... You get the point...
Arthur Posted April 9, 2016 Posted April 9, 2016 I've just looked in one of my old hotmail eddresses to find some dodgy looking emails purporting to come from pyro friends. IMO Something is loose in the email system likely Hotmail/Live
FrankRizzo Posted April 9, 2016 Posted April 9, 2016 (edited) I've just looked in one of my old hotmail eddresses to find some dodgy looking emails purporting to come from pyro friends. IMO Something is loose in the email system likely Hotmail/Live Arthur - That may be so, but the amount of evidence on Ned's forum that this was not a "hacker" or "identity scam" is overwhelming. The story presented here on APC is pretty devoid of detail; there are over 700 posts on Fireworking between two threads.... Edited April 9, 2016 by FrankRizzo
Maxim Posted April 20, 2016 Posted April 20, 2016 If you want to join the greatest show ever - join Fireworking NOW! The great "How the Pyro Turns" is still on! Join, before it's too late! Over 700 posts on the story, crazyest theories ( including space creatures hacking Chris's phone! ) and a lot more! 1
lloyd Posted April 25, 2016 Posted April 25, 2016 IF you weren't one of the 'contributors', it is kind of funny. But that's not what FW.com is about. It's a RICH resource for projects, advice from pros, ongoing discussions about new research, tools... you name it! It's worth the money for a lifetime subscription -- every penny. LLoyd
Peret Posted April 26, 2016 Posted April 26, 2016 You could spend your money on books - here's a nice used Shimizu for only $2,299, and there are many other titles on Amazon, some for less than $100. Or you could join Fireworking for $40 and find yourself occasionally chatting to the damn authors of some of these books (not Shimizu, regrettably), and spending more hours than you can really spare in the "articles" section. Kind of a no-brainer.
schroedinger Posted April 26, 2016 Posted April 26, 2016 It's worth the money for a lifetime subscription -- every penny. LLoyd+1 on that, still saving for that lifetime subscription.
jakespeed Posted April 26, 2016 Posted April 26, 2016 (edited) a $2300 book is an entertaining reference, but i'm quite confident no one is paying that amount in this modern internet age of information sharing & after decades of using free bulletin boards, usenet groups and web forums i have difficulty coughing up cash to read the views of others, especially with so many opportunities for free information exchange i'm a member of dozens of web forums & have donated to a few that i found exceptionally useful, but i've never had to pay a subscription i could see perhaps paying to avoid ads any forum with a decent following should be able to cover expenses if not profit from advertisers i've never viewed fireworking.com and am not attempting to bash the site but i'd like to offer the other cheapskates like myself the following free alternatives http://www.amateurpyro.comhttp://www.pyrotalk.comhttp://www.pyrofan.comhttp://www.fireworks-forum.org.ukhttp://canadianpyro.cahttp://mopyro.ushttp://www.thefireworkforum.co.ukhttp://www.fireworksguruforum.com there are also numerous how-to articles athttp://www.skylighter.comhttp://www.cannonfuse.comhttp://explosives.wonderhowto.com of course none of the above can compare to http://www.amateurpyro.com the only forum i post to Edited April 27, 2016 by jakespeed 1
Mumbles Posted April 26, 2016 Posted April 26, 2016 I thought Peret was just being facetious at first. F.A.S.T. is actually getting kind of hard to find. The book should probably be around $60 new, but the cheapest I could find was right around $200. I appreciate the kind words Jakespeed. I had the same feelings as you, and found it difficult to bring myself to pay just to access a forum. I assure you that it's well worth it though. I do frequent or browse among many of the forums you mentioned. I consider books and literature to be a necessary expense in most of my hobbies. The internet is great, but it's hard to dismiss distilled pure knowledge produced by some of the masters of the field. With multiple ways to do everything and the amount of varied, conflicting, or just plain bad information out there you soon begin to appreciate and value what real books provide. I've come to feel the same way about Fireworking and Passfire. Both of my subscriptions have lapsed, but I've been meaning to re-subscribe as soon as things settles down for me and I can afford the time to really delve in again. Even that aside the group buys and person to person sales are often worth more than the cost of admission. The paywall also tends to weed out those not as serious about the hobby, which can be nice sometimes. They're not without their downsides, but I personally find them to be worthwhile, and encourage anyone to at least give them a chance. Bullshit, hacking, and whatever else aside I'm glad Chris wasn't harmed physically.
lloyd Posted April 26, 2016 Posted April 26, 2016 "...any forum with a decent following should be able to cover expenses if not profit from advertisers..." -----Harrumph! You make the broad (unbased) assumption that the whole purpose of the site is for advertising, with the forum participation offered only as a benefit of the advertising money! What if: You founded a site purely on the basis of sharing information, and had to defray costs and maintenance time (of two professionals) to do that work. Would you then just fund it out of your own pocket, or would you charge a small annual fee for the work that goes on behind the curtains every day? FW.com doesn't charge a penny for adverts, because that's such a tiny bit of what they do. Ned Gorski is nothing if he is not a consummate teacher who wishes everyone to enjoy fireworks as much as he does. You have SEEN what his work looks like on Skylighter.com. Think about that body of work "amped-up" twenty-fold! LLoyd
OldMarine Posted April 26, 2016 Posted April 26, 2016 I'm a member of APC, fireworking.com and Passfire. I've learned most of what has worked for me from them.The archives and articles on the latter two make them worth the price of admission.Though APC is a free forum I still felt I'd gained so much from it that I donated toward it's upkeep and will continue to do so in the future.
jakespeed Posted April 27, 2016 Posted April 27, 2016 "...any forum with a decent following should be able to cover expenses if not profit from advertisers..." -----Harrumph! You make the broad (unbased) assumption that the whole purpose of the site is for advertising, with the forum participation offered only as a benefit of the advertising money! apologies if my point was not clear i made no assumption that the site's purpose is advertising i assume all forums are created by enthusiasts for their passion of the subject matter some high-traffic forums may be later purchased for profits but i doubt any were created for profits my point was that a site with a decent following should not need subscription fees as they can maintain the site with revenue from advertisements i may one day join FW as my knowledge expands, but for now i'm staying on the cheap
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