NY fire caused by 'voodoo sex ceremony' 15:30 AEST Sun Feb 27 2011 The Brooklyn apartment blaze left left one dead. A fire which ripped through a New York apartment building, leaving one person dead and 100 others homeless, was caused by a woman who was having a sex ceremony with a voodoo priest. The unidentified woman from Brooklyn paid the holy man over $300 to help rid her of her problems by having sex in a bed surrounded by candles, the NY Post reports. The pair accidentally knocked over some candles, which ignited the sheets and clothes on the floor, before eventually spreading to the hallway. "He poured rum on the floor near the door to prevent evil spirits from getting inside … [He told her] in order for it to work, they had to have sex," a source told the NY Post. Another man in the same apartment who was ironing his pants at the time panicked when he saw the flames and opened a window to put out the smoke, but ended up fanning the blaze. The witch doctor unsuccessfully tried to douse the flames with water from the bathroom and the three of them then fled their fourth-floor apartment, leaving the front door wide open. The wind gusts of 65km/h "created a blowtorch effect as winds whipped in through the open window and pushed fire out into the hallway", a spokesperson from the New York Fire Department said. The flames spread to the fifth and sixth floors of the apartment, causing part of the roof and fourth floor to collapse. The voodoo priest initially told police that he was in his bed all day and had only seen the woman when she delivered food. After an emergency call was analysed and witnesses were spoken to, the circumstances surrounding the fire were established. A 62-year-old retired school counsellor, Mary Feagin, who lived on the sixth floor, died in the fire. Even though the priest had initially lied to the police, no charges are expected to be laid. The blaze took the combined efforts of 200 firefighters from 44 companies to put out, and injured 25 fightfighters. Source: http://news.ninemsn.com.au/world/8217103/ny-fire-caused-by-voodoo-sex-ceremony
She can be my voodoo priestess... As I always tell my kids, there is very little tragedy that is ever an "accident" but rather, a lack of forethought that is to blame. In this case, the aforementioned combine with a total ignorance of fire safety procedures was a formula for a deadly conflagration. The voodoo priest may not be charged with intentional arson, however the building owner's insurance company and the hundreds that he has made homeless can proceed with civil action against him, ie. sue him for every penny that he's got. For related stories as reported by New York One (a channel dedicated to 24 hour coverage of New York City's news events), click HERE then scroll to bottom to read other stories and videos. This case highlights a special peeve of mine, and that is, what does society do to help mitigate the costs of individual stupidity? We routinely see stuff like that when untrained and unprepared "adventurers" go mountain climbing and wind up being the subject of a $40,000 multi-agency rescue, a horrible waste of collective tax dollars because of unthinking and or self serving actions of an individual. In this instance, this voodoo priest, eager to make money and get a piece of ass, not only thoughtlessly cost a woman her life; his actions resulted in tremendous property damage cost, not to mention the taxpayer's firefighting expense. I vote that there should be societal damages cases brought against such individuals and if successful, that their wages be subjected to garnishment; a stupidity tax if you will, for the remainder of their lifetimes (or until whenever they can clear the judgment amount). This way they can still get to live their lives and be as productive as they can, but also be somewhat socially responsible for their financial impact on society. Comments?
