Two Suspected Burglars Killed When Blow Torch Ignites Fireworks In Safe

[AzoMittle]

Hey this was in the news this morning from CBS Boston (full transcript below) http://boston.cbslocal.com/2013/10/09/two-suspected-burglars-killed-when-blow-torch-ignites-fireworks-in-safe/#.UlWYFRq5cts.twitter

 

They don't give many details, yet, but it sounds like no one besides those two men were injured. Yes they were doing something wrong, by burglarizing the place, but two deaths is still a tragedy and my heart goes out to their families and friends.

 

I feel like this could have been partially avoided by placing some sort of chemical/explosive danger label on the safe.

 

The article:

 

 

HOPKINTON, NH (CBS) – Two men who allegedly broke into a Hopkinton, New Hampshire business on Tuesday morning were killed in a massive explosion, officials said.

The State Fire Marshal says that the men, identified as Lucas Burke, 21, of Allenstown and Ethan Keeler, 21, of Epsom, were using an oxy-acetylene blow torch to try and cut into a large safe inside a workshop at New Yard Landscaping on Farrington Corner Road.

That safe contained a large amount of commercial-grade fireworks, which exploded.

The two men were killed in the blast.

The interior of the building also suffered heavy damage from the explosion.

The investigation into the explosion is still ongoing.

Officials would only say that the men did not have permission to be on the property. However, the business owner told WBZ-TV that the men had already loaded some items from the business into a nearby vehicle.

The owner also said he knew one of the suspects, and indicated that suspect may have known about the safe, but not its contents.

 

[Zerohour]

Haha warn your thieves? You could leave the combination on the door. If I would have caught them the end result may have been the same.

Edited October 10, 2013 by Zerohour

[mikeee]

Gene Pool just got a little cleaner.

[hindsight]

Oh no Mikeee, you are so insensitive. I agree with Azo. In fact, I'd go a step further and label every safe with a warning:

"Warning, may contain wheat, soy, or highly explosive ingredients". Dude, you put your dangerous materials in a steel vault with a combination lock on, that requires an oxyacetylene torch to enter, so a label is probably over the top. I agree it's a tragedy any time a human being is injured or hurt. Nevertheless the next time anybody tries to burglarize anything, they gotta ask themselves, "Do I feel lucky?".

[leedrill]

i have to admit i lived with mates when i was about 21 and towards the end of us all living together we got broken into 3 time in 2 months broken into twice the 3rd time 3 blokes with low caliber rifles knocked on the door while i was at work and my mate and his little brother where home the second time one guy was caught {very long storey but in short he left his car keys in the house and one of us came home as he was trying to get into his car around the corner from our house } the police where called so id say the 3rd time was vengeance for catching their mate out {bloody junkies when the cops came his car was full of stolen goods from several different houses including needled and other things } in turn call me morbid but i think having 10kg of mixed flash in a safe in the house isnt such a bad idea i wish i had one in the house considering the sentimental items ill never get back because of thieving pricks and their love for drugs i too feel sorry for the families of the two in this storey but not for them

[marks265]

I like to hear about these people getting killed or maimed. They were breaking into something that locked and I don't care if it is a 50 cent padlock. Locked is for a reason and if someone wants to compromise any lock and they get shot at while doing so or come under fire from the contents inside they deserve whatever outcome they are dealt. It's just that simple for me. These people are somewhere where they should not. No sign or sticker is needed, the lock is the sign. Compromise the lock and you compromise your future. I like the "Castle" law we have and it should go further to situations like this.

 

I'm with Zerohour on this one!

[hindsight]

Caveat raptor

.... Compromise the lock and you compromise your future...

Reminds me of my friend who had a sign on his door that read, "Owner possesses assault weaponry and is proficient in it's use!" He took the sign down later, explaining that the intruders would find out eventually anyway. Labels are sometimes intentionally deceptive, e.g., there's a large international symbol for radioactivity on some bloke's cassette ( a structure out in the middle of nowhere) to discourage raiders. Unfortunately, a label declaring the presence of explosives would draw flies.

Edited October 11, 2013 by hindsight

[NeuroticNurse]

Such a label here might even land you into more trouble, seeing that it would be argued by an unscrupulous prosecution that you knew that storing goods in such manner would be hazardous and put others in harms way.

Our castle defense laws here are not unlimited, which is both a good and a bad thing.

 

I cant say I have too much sympathy for those two crooks, even if I do think that their deaths were unfortunate.

[hindsight]

marks265, Maybe you could put a warning label on your firearms:

 

"Warning, this device contains Lead, a substance known to the State of California (and Wisconsin) to be hazardous to your health!"

 

 

Wouldn't want anyone to suffer from accidental acute Lead toxicity, you know.

Edited October 13, 2013 by hindsight

[marks265]

marks265, Maybe you could put a warning label on your firearms:

 

"Warning, this device contains Lead, a substance known to the State of California (and Wisconsin) to be hazardous to your health!"

 

 

Wouldn't want anyone to suffer from accidental acute Lead toxicity, you know.

LOL

 

I have a sign at the end of my barrel, "News Flash! You snuck through my door and now your on the floor"

[marks265]

All this talk makes me a bit giddy. I think I need another hog leg, maybe a 44

[TheExplosionist]

An excellent example of being blinded by greed.

[Throwingbrick]

Oh no Mikeee, you are so insensitive. I agree with Azo. In fact, I'd go a step further and label every safe with a warning:

"Warning, may contain wheat, soy, or highly explosive ingredients". Dude, you put your dangerous materials in a steel vault with a combination lock on, that requires an oxyacetylene torch to enter, so a label is probably over the top. I agree it's a tragedy any time a human being is injured or hurt. Nevertheless the next time anybody tries to burglarize anything, they gotta ask themselves, "Do I feel lucky?".

Anyone who breaks into your home with the possibility to harm you or your family if they are blocked from escaping doesn't deserve anything except a high calibre bullet to the chest, I'm gonna get hate for this but family, friends and property rank higher than someone who has the possible intent of harming family or friends or stealing from me.

[mikeee]

We should outlaw gas torches and this will never happen again.

[Bobosan]

We should outlaw gas torches and this will never happen again.

Yes, yes....especially those with pistol grips and detachable hoses and tanks holding more than 10 seconds worth of gas.

[pyrodundee]

Until the lawmakers understand that stealing "possessions" equates to stealing the life you swapped earning those possessions, most of our laws will be out of synch with our communities true feelings on crime. I personally think that their estates should be held accountable for the damage that their darwinesque exit caused as well.

[marks265]

We should outlaw gas torches and this will never happen again.

Along with battery operated grinders to cut into the lock and lock protection and firearms for those that wish to try to shoot the locks off and jack hammers for people who try to pound the locks off and trucks with chains for those who might try to drag one down the road.

[leedrill]

We should outlaw gas torches and this will never happen again.

what would i use for anti seize on old bolts if i didnt have acetylene

[hindsight]

We should outlaw gas torches and this will never happen again.

yea, just outlaw people and no one would get hurt Mikeee, I'm glad to see you didn't go to 4 years of Evil Medical School for nothing.

 

 

 

P.S. Saw your idea on another older thread about intentionally mislabeling pyro compound containers with labels like "Marijuana, LSD, Methamphetamine, Cocaine", etc. That would confuse me as I actually have had those compounds in my lab at one time (legally).

Edited October 15, 2013 by hindsight

[eb11]

just outlaw safes so the thieves don't have such a hard time to steal stuff. (and I am not serious as far as I am concerned its called survival of the fittest if we let nature do its job we wouldn't have so many idiots in this world)

[BurritoBandito]

I'm afraid I have to agree with the OP. A life is more valuable than the contents of any safe. Though the thieves clearly were in the wrong, thats an awful big price to pay for an attempt to steal. Imagine being the parent of one of these would be thieves... It's a tragedy for sure. The overall consensus that they got what they had coming is macabre. Had they been arrested instead would you advocate the death penalty for stealing? I don't see much difference. Just my 2 cents.

...i think having 10kg of mixed flash in a safe in the house isnt such a bad idea

@leedrill: Not to be rude or disrespectful but, I am ashamed to hear you say such a careless thing. I don't think it's wise to store any amount of flash. Especially the quantities that you are suggesting, and especially especially inside a big block of potential shrapnel like a safe. Maybe you were being sardonic, but it's very hard to detect sarcasm in text. Someone could read this and think "hey he's HE, so he probably knows what he's talking about". That's a horrible suggestion... Rather you were joking or not. Edited October 28, 2013 by BurritoBandito

[hindsight]

Life is more valuable than the contents of any safe. So anyone who commits burglary and attempted theft--knowing that they put their life at stake by doing so-- is foolish.

 

No one is advocating the death penalty here for this crime. The criminals forfeited their own life; no one took it from them. There are road signs in life that say, "Don't Go Here". If you ignore them you can drive off the edge of the cliff and die. A locked safe is one of those signs.

 

Justice is self-actuating at times, and that's not macabre--it's reassuring. There is so much unpunished crime, and it's at such a cost to the quality of life. Quality and quantity.

 

I am terribly grieved by the senseless loss of life. Not knowing the specifics of their family, I have just a general notion that they might regret that these criminals went the way they did. Hope never to put my family through that.

 

Life is precious. Thou shalt not murder. Thou shalt not covet. Thou shalt not steal.

Edited October 28, 2013 by hindsight

[mikeee]

The parents of these two idiots can sleep restfully at night knowing they won't be getting phone calls

at all hours of the night to come bail their stupid asses out of jail. I am sure they enjoyed seeing their

names in the newspaper everytime they got in trouble. The old saying the apple does not fall too far

from the tree might indicate how these two were raised and the lack of discipline growing up.

[leedrill]

yes burrito bandito i was being facetious with my comment to do something so stupidly dangerous. but i will say i more so agree with the views of hind sight. and to reinstate his words self acting justice is reassuring. but for things like in my case where my farther passed when i was 15 from leukaemia and when i was broken into they took some thing so sentimental to me i will never forgive myself for not having it better protected and as macabre as it is i would wish a torture till death penalty on them let alone a death penalty we are only human and one link to my farther was litlle of what i had even just as a possession . im not sure how many would react but im sure if someone came into your house and killed your parents children or any loved one for that matter your macabre side would show its face ill end with this

 

life is precious, but emotions are fragile , we all bleed in many ways .

[BurritoBandito]

Life is more valuable than the contents of any safe. So anyone who commits burglary and attempted theft--knowing that they put their life at stake by doing so-- is foolish.

 

No one is advocating the death penalty here for this crime. The criminals forfeited their own life; no one took it from them. There are road signs in life that say, "Don't Go Here". If you ignore them you can drive off the edge of the cliff and die. A locked safe is one of those signs.

 

In this situation I must respectfully disagree with a large part APC community. Mikeee, I am sorry for your loss, but I hardly see breaking into a safe as being even remotely similar to killing your family members. These people were crooks, but that does not imply that they were murderers. Probably some stupid kids that made a poor decision as I’m sure we all have. I know that I was a troublesome teenager. Does that make me a bad person? I don’t think it does, and it certainly doesn't say anything about my parents. I guess this is just a hot-button for me. I don't take death lightly.