SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
In a spot of dry humor, El Reg has a story up on how the Government of Ridgefield, CT, attempted to remedy a damp baseball field in preparation for a high school game by lighting it on fire with gasoline.
In what could be understatement of the week, a Connecticut town has admitted that "a poor decision was made" when 24 gallons (109 litres) of petrol were poured on a baseball field and set on fire.
According to the town's Facebook page:
Town of Ridgefield, CT
on SaturdayThere as been an incident in town that we want [to] make citizens aware of. A RHS baseball game at Governor Park was delayed due to weather conditions on the field this morning. A poor decision was made (and being looked into by the RPD) to “dry the field quicker” and 24 gallons of gasoline was poured and set on fire. Thanks to the RFD, Peter Hill the Director of Public Works, DEEP, the RPD, and our Certified Spill Response Team for their incredible help. No one was injured and no one is in danger. The plan is to excavate the infield, place dirt in a safe container, and add fresh, clean soil to the field. We will update you as we know more.
Sadly for the players, it turns out that fire and grass did not work together as was apparently hoped and the game had to be held elsewhere. A later update on the town's page indicates
Town of Ridgefield, CT
on SaturdayAn update to the field fire situation. The field may be closed for the week due to the need for testing to be completed.
Comments on the page are everything you might expect and deserve your attention, for example one individual pointed out that he "would have added the use of a leaf blower to give the fire more oxygen."
Science!
(Score: 3, Interesting) by DannyB on Tuesday April 09 2019, @08:02PM (15 children)
What kind of testing? Testing of the decision makers' IQ?
According to this [wikipedia.org], . . .
Connecticut ranked third in the nation for educational performance, according to Education Week’s Quality Counts 2018 report. It earned an overall score of 83.5 out of 100 points. On average, the country received a score of 75.2. Connecticut posted a B-plus in the Chance-for-Success category, ranking fourth on factors that contribute to a person’s success both within and outside the K-12 education system.
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 4, Informative) by DeathMonkey on Tuesday April 09 2019, @08:53PM (7 children)
Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons, Method
8015 modified gasoline range organics
(GRO); and BTEX Method 8020
You are required to keep removing soil until they come back negative.
(Score: 4, Funny) by JoeMerchant on Tuesday April 09 2019, @09:44PM (6 children)
Why remove soil, why not burn them off?
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 09 2019, @10:05PM (5 children)
Most of it will have soaked into the soil. Below the top few mm, there's no air (or other oxidizer) to sustain a fire. There's a reason sand buckets work.
(Score: 3, Funny) by coolgopher on Wednesday April 10 2019, @04:13AM (4 children)
So they need to loosen up the dirt a bit first to aerate it. I say we get some dynamite into that field! :D
(Score: 3, Funny) by pTamok on Wednesday April 10 2019, @06:41AM (1 child)
Before loosening it, I suggest saturating it with liquid oxygen, which will provide the oxidiser for the unburnt gasoline to burn with. What could possibly go wrong?
If you can't do that, then harrowing in a significant load of ammonium nitrate fertiliser would help. Then dynamite.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Wednesday April 10 2019, @01:38PM
LOx is preferable, no harmful residual - gasses off when it warms to room temp.
Ever see a demonstration of LOx + asphalt? 1 gram of asphalt makes an impressive BOOM when soaked in LOx and hammered.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 2) by driverless on Wednesday April 10 2019, @07:35AM
Naah, this is how you loosen up dirt to aerate it [youtu.be].
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Wednesday April 10 2019, @01:35PM
Works for dead whale carcasses - should be extra effective on baseball fields.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 2) by nobu_the_bard on Tuesday April 09 2019, @09:30PM (1 child)
You only need two idiots to start something like this. One idiot if he's popular enough.
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 10 2019, @02:50AM
So you're saying I need to find a friend to do this with?
(Score: 4, Insightful) by fyngyrz on Tuesday April 09 2019, @09:32PM (3 children)
You can't fix stupid... but you can select for it, elect it, and hand power over to it.
Sad, but true.
--
Always stop and look both ways at a train crossing.
You can't trust a train.
They have loco motives.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Bot on Wednesday April 10 2019, @11:22AM
Luckily, Trump was elected instead.
Account abandoned.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Wednesday April 10 2019, @01:40PM (1 child)
I think a lot of how we "fix stupid" in the modern world is by not giving stupid access to (lots of) money. This seems clearly to be the case of stupid on a beer run thinking: what the hell, it's not even $100 worth of gas, let's get this party started!
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 2) by Alfred on Wednesday April 10 2019, @02:59PM
(Score: 2) by Acabatag on Wednesday April 10 2019, @02:53AM
This is sports we are talking about. It's special.