Arkansas Canoe Club Forums

The Pyrotechnic Division of the RBF (Motto: "Increasing the odds of gene pool improvement every time we strike a match.") is always looking for recruits. If this guy survives, he's a candidate.
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Blast Rocks Yaffee Plant
Tuesday, November 4, 2008 9:44 AM CST
By Hicham Raache

TIMES RECORD • HRAACHE@SWTIMES.COM

"A scrap metal worker suffered extensive injuries at an Arkoma scrap yard Monday when an artillery shell he was attempting to salvage exploded.

LeFlore County [Oklahoma] authorities refused to release the name of the man who was transported to Sparks Regional Medical Center Monday afternoon.

The employee suffered the injuries in the scrap yard of Yaffe Iron & Metal, 118 Stateline Road, according to Bob Hawley, director of LeFlore County EMS and incident commander of the emergency command station set up at Arkoma Assembly of God, 205 Sumner Ave.

The worker was attempting to salvage the brass of one of several demilitarized artillery shells obtained by Yaffe 15 years ago by cutting into it with a blow torch..."

http://swtimes.com/articles/2008/11/04/news/news01.txt
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This story raises several interesting points:

1. Should Arkansas consider changing its unofficial state motto to: "Thank god for Oklahoma?"

2. Now we know what Will Rogers meant when he said that when the Arkies and Okies moved to California it raised the IQ in all three states.

3. Should the guy who said "Hey! I've got an idea for increasing revenue. Let's cut into all these cannon balls with a blow torch!" be added to Team Stupid's fundraising committee?

Yup, that one made the Tulsa evening news.

However it was sanitized as most news is these days.

I wondered just how the explosion started.

There are clearly things even too stupid for our team. Wow.

- Fish

From what I understand was that the shells were supposed to be void of any explosives. Therefore the worker believed that that would not explode. This is not much of a laughing matter in that he was taking orders from his employer who probably said that there was not a problem cutting them with a torch.

Two Words.
Workman's Comp.

One word:
LAWSUIT!

More on the story here: http://www.kfsm.com/global/story.asp?s=9301853" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

"The one that was discharged was because the person that was cutting on it with a torch hit the fuse. Many of them are obviously inert, hollowed out, but we want to make sure and identify everything."


The guy had to have one of his legs amputated.

Lifejacket wrote:One word:
LAWSUIT!

And a lawyer started this thread... Hmmm

I have an old Civil War shell that I've had since I was a kid, actually my brother found it while driving a tractor in a field pulling a disc. We use to throw it around and everything. Now it just sits on the shelf as a relic to view. I found out this year that it is indeed a "live" shell, and was advised to have it defused, by someone who does this for a hobby. I was given articles with stories of similar results when people attempted to do this themselves. (The inner workings of these things are complicated and amazing that they were assembled and used in the civil war time period.) One of a shell that exploded sending scratnel through the front door of a house seven blocks away. For now this thing is still "live" and sits on the shelf.