Darwin ALWAYS gets over

[Cuda]

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drm...604816,00.html

<font size="6">Teens smoked cigarettes while jumping on oil tank</font>

By Julie Poppen, Rocky Mountain News
June 27, 2007
Two teens were smoking as they jumped atop an oil tank in Routt National Forest just before it exploded, the Rio Blanco County undersheriff said Tuesday.
Investigators are looking at the possibility that cigarettes or ashes ignited vapors, Undersheriff Michael Joos said.

Other possibilities include sparks from a campfire 30 feet away or even static electricity.

"Some poor judgments were made," Joos said. "They (went) to an area they shouldn't have been at to jump up and down on an oil tank."

But assigning a cause to the freak accident is of little consolation to residents of the small south Routt County towns where residents are grieving the deaths of Samuel Hedemark, 17, and Christopher Fuller, 19.

Fuller, of Yampa, and Hedemark, of Phippsburg, had joined teens and young adults partying in National Forest Service land across a Forest Service road from Chapman Reservoir.

Many were current or past students at Soroco High School in Oak Creek. The district, with only 410 students, is a tightknit community, said Dina Murray, the district's business manager.

"The reports are that about 20 kids were in attendance at this party that witnessed these boys in an explosion," Murray said. "That's pretty traumatic."

Joos said authorities are learning that the site 20 miles southwest of Oak Creek was a popular party spot.

About 10:15 p.m. Saturday, authorities received reports of a blast. They found the bodies of Fuller and Hedemark, who were thrown more than 400 feet. A dog on the tank also was killed.

Both had elevated blood alcohol levels, Rio Blanco County Coroner Randall -Cochran reported.

Both victims spent a good deal of time outdoors, relatives and friends told the Steamboat Pilot & Today.

"That boy really went through fishing poles," Kathleen Foos, Hedemark's mother, told the paper.

Brandon Ager said his friend, Fuller, "was a real good guy that just liked to hunt, fish and hike with his dogs."

Between 32,000 and 40,000 oil and gas tanks are on public and private lands in Colorado, said Bureau of Land Management spokesman Jim Sample.

The tank that exploded was partially filled with 160 barrels of crude oil.

It was not fenced off but did have warning and no-trespassing signs on it, Joos said.

A release valve on the top of the tank prevents vapors from building up. Investigators believe that the motion of the young men jumping caused vapors to escape.

Joos said a third young man was on the tank and got off just before the blast, which blew the top portion of the tank 100 yards and knocked partygoers to the ground.

Investigators have not yet interviewed all the witnesses. Charges could be filed against those in attendance as well as against the person who provided alcohol.

Prosecutors visited the site Sunday, Joos said.

Tricia Beaver, spokeswoman for the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, said in her 23 years with the agency she's never heard of such an accident.

Beaver said environmental tests are being conducted but noted that most of the oil either burned off or collected in an area designed for that purpose.

"It's just a really unfortunate situation that occurred," she said.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Heh, heh, heh... Bode, Darwin

[Cuda]

Not to be outdone, Darwin strikes again

<font size="6">Man dies after 700-foot fall from hot-air balloon</font>
A 54-year-old man plunged 700 feet to his death in a field in Steamboat Springs after falling out of a hot-air balloon Tuesday morning.
Routt County Coroner Robert Ryg identified the victim as John Lippincott. Although Lippincott listed a Boulder address on his license, Ryg said he was a transient who lived out of his car and frequented the Idaho Springs area.

Steamboat Springs police said they are investigating the death as either a suicide or an accident.

"There isn't any indication of foul play at this point," Police Capt. Joel Rae said.

A woman who works in the office for the hot-air balloon company said the victim was intent on killing himself.

"According to those on board, a man with some issues chose us as a way to end his life in a spectacular manner," said Lora Wyman, who works in the office of Wild West Balloon Adventures.

"He repeatedly was sitting on the side of the basket and he was asked to get back in," she said.

Instead, the victim "just let himself go as if he were doing a scuba dive," she said. "There was no balloon malfunction. There was no accident or pilot error. The weather was beautiful."

The pilot, Ian Cox, passed his Federal Aviation Administration balloon flight exam in 1982 and has logged more than 3,500 flights, according to the company's Web site.

The incident happened about 8:30 a.m. just as the balloon was setting down in a field near U.S. 40 and Routt County Road 14 at the end of a 30-minute flight, police said.

Rae would not comment on whether drugs or alcohol were involved or on how the fall happened. He said the National Transportation Safety Board has been notified of the incident.

Police said there were six people on board the balloon.

Wyman said all of the people on board were badly shaken by what they had witnessed.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">

[Python]

which blew the top portion of the tank 100 yards and knocked partygoers to the ground

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Partygoers?

BBBWWWAAAHHHAAA!!!

[Cuda]

<font size="6">Charges weighed in stunt death</font>
By Rosa Ramirez, Rocky Mountain News
July 9, 2007
GREELEY - Investigators are looking into whether charges will be filed against a 19-year-old Greeley man who drove a vehicle during a stunt gone awry that led to his friend's drowning.

Margie Martinez, a spokeswoman for the Weld County Sheriff's Office, said Darren Bucklen was behind the wheel of a black 1984 Ford Tempo that he drove into a 25-foot-deep lake at Bucklen Enterprises Sand and Gravel Pit on Friday.

Bucklen and his friend, David Griego Jr., had built a dirt ramp and driven the vehicle into the Bucklens' private lake as their friends filmed the stunt.

Martinez said they purchased the car for $300 that day and modified it before attempting the stunt.

"They purchased the Ford Tempo, cut off the top and the doors and build a dirt ramp with the intention to go into the lake," Martinez said.

What happened after the Ford went into the water is unclear.

But friends who were watching the stunt from the lake's bank told authorities Griego began flailing his arms and panicked.

"He (Griego) was just in a panic state and wasn't able to get out," Martinez said.

Bucklen swam toward Griego to try to help him, but Martinez said he couldn't get his friend out of the water.

"Darren Bucklen got out. (Griego) did not," she said.

Divers from the Union Colony Fire/Rescue Authority began the search Friday and continued the following day, Martinez said.

Griego's body was found at approximately 9:30 a.m. Saturday.

A man, who said he was the grandfather of Griego, said Sunday his family did not wish to comment.

A teenager who was videotaping the stunt told the Greeley Tribune that Bucklen had gotten the idea of driving a car into a lake "a long time ago."

"There was no looking at it," Matt Fuentes, 18, told the Tribune. "It was build a jump and do it. And that was it."

A dirt loader was used to build a ramp on the bank, the Tribune reported.

An autopsy conducted by the Weld County Coroner's Office determined that Griego suffered neck injuries and drowned, Martinez said.

Bucklen told police he and his friend knew how to swim.

Alcohol is not believed to have been a factor, Martinez said.

"Charges will be determined after the investigation is complete," she said.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Alcohol not a factor?

I guess Mothers Against Drunk Driving has something to crow about now too: Ending the red-neck tradition of Usual Last Words for Stunts Destined to Go Bad (i.e. "Hold my beer & watch this")