Many things that we do in life are ordinary. In fact, the lives of most people aren't that entertaining or surprising. Sometimes, however, the ordinary or relatively common things done by people turn into huge disasters.
10. Charity Releases Balloons
On the morning of September 27, 1986, more than 2,000 volunteers filled 1.5 million balloons before releasing them all at once from under a large plastic tarp. The stunt had been organized by the United Way to break the world's record for the largest number of balloons released at once.
However, the weather was poor that morning and the balloons were forced down by rain. As it turned out, the record-breaking event backfired in spectacular ways.
First, the balloons temporarily shut down the runway at a nearby airport. Also, the balloons temporarily interrupted Coast Guard attempts to find two fishermen whose boat had capsized.
This may have contributed to the drowning of the two men. A lawsuit brought by the widowed spouse of one of the fishermen against the charity was settled out of court. The same thing happened with another lawsuit from a woman who claimed that the balloons had spooked her prized horses. One horse had been injured and was euthanized as a result.
9. Cremating A Corpse
The cremation of corpses is an everyday occurrence and usually doesn't cause much of a problem. However, human fat is extremely combustible. In sufficient quantities, it can burn so hot that the crematorium can't handle it. This actually happened in 2012 when a 200-kilogram (440 lb) female corpse was cremated in Austria.
A large amount of soot released by the burning corpse blocked an air filter, causing the furnace to overheat. The crematorium nearly burned down before firemen managed to extinguish the blaze. However, the crematorium was still covered in a layer of sooty grease from the burning corpse.
With the worldwide rise in obesity, this issue will become an increasing problem in the future. Although crematorium sizes have expanded to accommodate larger corpses, the rate of expansion may not be enough to catch up to people's ever-expanding waistlines.
8. Using Bug Bombs
When a woman found her apartment infested with bugs in 2012, she did what many people would have done and tried to use bug bombs to smoke them out. But she overdid it, using 20 bug bombs in one room of her apartment and then another 20 bug bombs in another room.
Her oven was on, which ignited the fumes from the bug bombs and caused a massive explosion that blew out the wall of the apartment building. It partially collapsed and injured a dozen people.
Bug bombs can be quite flammable. There is a misconception that the more bug bombs you use, the more effective they are. But only one bug bomb is needed. It doesn't help that bug bombs are also quite cheap. In the US, the overuse of bug bombs causes 500 explosive and incendiary incidents every year.
7. Weighing People
Obviously, people keep track of how much weight they've lost by weighing themselves. But when a group of obese people come together, such as in a Weight Watchers clinic, their combined weight can be heavy enough to cause structural failure of the building.
In 2010, a group of overweight dieters lined up to see how much weight they had lost when the floor beneath their feet started to shake. Initially, they thought an earthquake was happening. But it was the floor failing under their combined weight.
Parts of the floor started to collapse, including along the walls, and the attendees heard a huge thud. Thankfully, no one was injured. The obese people who had gathered to weigh themselves went into the corridor of the building, which had not collapsed. They moved their scales out of the collapsed room and continued their weekly weigh-ins.
