2 Michigan brainiacs apparently didn't get either the 'no smoking near gasoline', or the 'use caution when transporting gasoline' memos, and put themselves in the running for a Darwin Award, when they set their van on fire. Fortunately for them, the incident occurred across the street from a fire station.

Authorities in Portage, Michigan haven't released the names of the 2 men, perhaps in efforts to save their families some embarrassment.

According to fire officials, these 2 Einsteins had a plastic container filled with gasoline in the van they were in, when one of the 2 decided he wanted a smoke. That's when hilarity ensued, and in the words of Portage Fire Chief Randolph Lawton, "that's when the van went boom." The men bailed out, and the van continued rolling across the street, into a fire station parking lot, before it came to a stop when it hit a fence.

Like irony? Firefighters from the station were across town gassing up their fire truck at the time, and by the time they got there, both the van and the fence were engulfed in flames. Firefighters from all 3 Portage fire stations responded to the blaze, which was quickly put out. The 2 men suffered burns that were not life threatening, and were transported to a nearby hospital.

Maybe this doesn't qualify as a Darwin Award nominee, since nobody was killed or seriously injured, but it sure ranks up there for stupidity, doesn't it?

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