PSA - don’t store your sticks of dynamite in the candle stick drawer

September 24, 2019, 10:59 AM

So many questions... Why couldn't she tell the difference between dyanamite and a candle when she put in the drawer? Why did the previous owners have dynamite in the basement (i.e. below your living quarters)? What kind of psycho has a candlestick drawer in the first place (waste of a perfectly good flashlight drawer)?

quote:
Connecticut woman injured after mistaking dynamite for candle during power outage

A Connecticut woman was seriously injured after she lit a stick of dynamite thinking it was a candle, said local police.

Author: Brett Molina, USA TODAY
Published: 1:25 PM CDT September 8, 2018
Updated: 1:35 PM CDT September 8, 2018

A Bridgeport, Connecticut woman was seriously hurt after lighting a stick of dynamite she thought was a candle, police said.

According to Fox61 in Connecticut, the family planned to visit Home Depot to buy emergency lighting after a thunderstorm knocked out power in their home, police said.

The family later recalled when they purchased their house two years ago, the previous owners left what they thought were candles in the basement.

WABC reports it was actually a quarter stick of dynamite. The victim, a 30-year-old woman, suffered severe injuries to her hands, and could lose some of her fingers.

"They brought them upstairs," Bridgeport Fire Chief Richard Thode told WABC. "There were two. She lit one, went to move it, and it exploded."

The woman also suffered injuries to her face. Her husband and two children ages 2 and 11 were home, but not injured, reports WABC.

According to NBC Connecticut, authorities searched the home and found another device which was removed from the home and later detonated. Houses nearby were also evacuated as a precaution.

September 24, 2019, 11:02 AM

Sig2340

September 24, 2019, 11:56 AM

tacfoley

Of course, just about EVERYBODY has a house with a drawer-full of sticks of dynamite, right?

September 24, 2019, 12:06 PM

Sportshooter

Don’t some folks keep their dynamite next to their vests and camel saddles?

September 24, 2019, 12:08 PM

rburg

An interesting question. Will a stick of dynamite light? Its nitroglycern, so it will burn much like a railroad flare I guess. Or not. Guess I need to go over to my wifes candle drawer and try one. I'll let y'all know how it turns out. Or not. If I don't post again, its because the stick lit. I'll use the little bit of common sense I have and take it outside so as to not light all the other ones in that drawer.

The news report didn't say it was capped and fused. Anybody got any input?

September 24, 2019, 12:13 PM

Ryanp225

Didn't they learn anything from Goonies?

September 24, 2019, 12:16 PM

1967Goat

I wonder if it was fireworks. When I was a teenager in NJ we used to go into NYC to buy fireworks. A favorite was the "Block Buster", which was billed as a quarter stick of dynamite.

Pic I stole from the web of a Block Buster.

September 24, 2019, 01:16 PM

maladat

quote:
Originally posted by 1967Goat:
I wonder if it was fireworks. When I was a teenager in NJ we used to go into NYC to buy fireworks. A favorite was the "Block Buster", which was billed as a quarter stick of dynamite.

Pic I stole from the web of a Block Buster.

[snip]

I have also heard certain large firecrackers referred to as "quarter sticks of dynamite." I have to think it's something like this. If you were holding an actual dynamite explosive when it went off, the injuries would go WAY beyond "could lose some of her fingers."

September 24, 2019, 01:46 PM

David Lee

I too think it was a fire work quarter stick. They are not a toy. Put one in a cinder block and run for cover. Ranch type wood fence poles, put one in the hole and you get a splintered pole. Its hard to even be near its report.

September 24, 2019, 01:48 PM

HayesGreener

Unless there was a fuse and detonator fire alone should not cause dynamite to detonate, but it will burn. But nitro is so damn unstable who knows?

September 24, 2019, 01:51 PM

GWbiker

Could have been a M80. 1/4 stick of dynamite. But, if holding it she would have lost more than a few fingers.

September 24, 2019, 02:29 PM

45 Cal

I know a little on this subject,it has to be rolled to keep nitro from leaching out on one side,failure makes it unstable,need a blasting cap to make it go off.Just a news hype story
What they called dynamite was just a firecracker.
As a young kid , me and step father cleared new ground of cured pine stumps and the land lord sold the to Hercules powder company.
Usually we cut in half as that was plenty to pop it out of the ground

September 24, 2019, 02:50 PM

tatortodd

Regardless of actual dynamite or good sized firecracker, how in the world fo you mistake for a candle and put in the candle drawer?

September 24, 2019, 03:35 PM

kkina

M-80s are NOT equivalent to "quarter sticks of dynamite". We all heard that growing up, but it's one of those untrue urban myths based on bad math.

Dynamite is HE, flash powder is LE. There's no comparison. An M-80 is about one quarter the size as a stick of dynamite, but it's a different explosive. Way less powerful (though I wouldn't want to hold one going off). In fact, if you had to compare it, about 1/80 the power of a stick of dyno. Maybe that's where they got the name.

Not sure about "quarter sticks", but they are also just large firecrackers and I don't believe they are 1/4 dyno either.

If there's any ordnance specialists on the forum today, maybe they can explain it better than me.

September 24, 2019, 03:56 PM

Rev. A. J. Forsyth

I'm voting ignorance and poor reporting stemming from common coloquialism on this one. The reporter has no clue, and the cops just called it a "quarter stick" because that's what most folks call "M-80s" and the like.

The real question for me that wil never be answered is why in the hell didn't this woman recognize the difference in burning between a wick and a fuze? Or, recognize the difference in color, shape, and feel of the thing that she was about to light, and a waxy candle?

September 24, 2019, 03:57 PM

0658

This person is so stupid she should have been from New Jersey or FloriDUH.

September 24, 2019, 04:09 PM

GWbiker

quote:
Originally posted by kkina:
M-80s are NOT equivalent to "quarter sticks of dynamite". We all heard that growing up, but it's one of those untrue urban myths based on bad math.

Dynamite is HE, flash powder is LE. There's no comparison. An M-80 is about one quarter the size as a stick of dynamite, but it's a different explosive. Way less powerful (though I wouldn't want to hold one going off). In fact, if you had to compare it, about 1/80 the power of a stick of dyno. Maybe that's where they got the name.

Not sure about "quarter sticks", but they are also just large firecrackers and I don't believe they are 1/4 dyno either.

If there's any ordnance specialists on the forum today, maybe they can explain it better than me.

US Army told me in 1960 it was a "Simulated Motar round" and a 1/4 stick of dynamite.

I came home from summer reserve camp with four M-80's and I KNOW first hand when I lite one up they blew out a few windows.

Of course this all happened some 60 years ago, before the Internet could set me straight.

September 24, 2019, 04:42 PM

kkina

I used to think it, too, but something about it never seemed right to me.

September 24, 2019, 04:49 PM

Skins2881

quote:
What kind of psycho has a candlestick drawer in the first place (waste of a perfectly good flashlight drawer)?

Guilty.

I had a box in my closet with 1/4 sticks and candles all thrown here. We used them for fishing every now and then. Also mixed in there were some M-80s and the smaller look alike M-80s (M-60s I think). What they are referring to are home made fireworks. Just think really big M-80. My dad used to get them from a friend of a friend of a friend.

Pretty sure they are illegal. They would put a nice hole in the ground. I've drilled old tree stumps and blown them apart with it. Also taken them to quarry, tied a rock to it and dropped it in the water. Stuns fish for 30 seconds to a minute and you scoop them with a net. That too was probably illegal. Dad thought me so many good lessons. Luckily statues of limitations has likely ran out and he's in the ground.

September 24, 2019, 04:50 PM

GWbiker

quote:
Originally posted by kkina:
I used to think it, too, but something about it never seemed right to me.

You may be correct about the explosive composition. It's not the first time the US Army told me incorrect info.

I DO miss the old days sales of Cherry Bombs, Ash Cans and the M80.

Of course, most dog owners would disagree with me.