Prank at Scout camp ended 1 life, changed 3 others

[RememberSchiff]

Teach Safety.

 

March 21, 2009

http://www.kval.com/news/local/41509887.html

 

By Associated Press

TOMS RIVER, N.J. (AP) - It was a hot July night at Boy Scout camp. Six boys, including Eagle Scout Brian Lenz, were clad in shorts and T-shirts, looking for something to do.

 

One of them was going to die, in a case that would shine an uncomfortable spotlight on the Scouts' safety and supervision policies.

 

Lenz, an 18-year-old camp counselor, decided to show the younger boys a trick: the "circle of fire," in which he would squirt rubbing alcohol in a pattern on a table and set it aflame.

 

It would look cool. And it would quickly burn out.

 

When Lenz tried to reignite what he thought was a dying flame, fire leapt from the table along the stream of liquid, back into the squeeze bottle he was holding.

 

Instinctively, he shook his hand, flinging the burning bottle away and inadvertently spraying flaming alcohol onto the other Scouts at the Joseph A. Citta Reservation in Waretown, N.J., last year on July 6.

 

In an instant, Sean Whitley, a 17-year-old nearing his own Eagle Scout rank, was horribly burned on his legs and abdomen. He died four days later at a Philadelphia hospital. Two other Scouts, including Whitley's twin brother and a 14-year-old Scout, were also burned but soon recovered.

 

Lenz appeared in court Thursday to plead not guilty to aggravated assault and was admitted into a pretrial intervention program that will enable him to avoid jail time or even a criminal record.

 

The case came nearly three years after the organization reached an out-of-court settlement with the family of a New Jersey Scout who was killed by lightning at a Pennsylvania camp.

 

Boy Scout policies prohibit the use or possession of flammable liquids, and the leader of the local Scout council said two adults are supposed to be present "in all situations."

 

"Even one incident like this is one too many," said Craig Shelley, Scout executive for the Jersey Shore Council. "We have redoubled our efforts to ensure the safety of every child in our care. Fire safety is something we are having increased discussions about."

 

Whitley's family sued Lenz and the Boy Scouts about a month ago, seeking unspecified damages and alleging that negligence led to Whitley's wrongful death.

 

"The loss of Sean has been a tragedy for all involved," the victim's family said in a statement provided to The Associated Press on Wednesday by its lawyer. They did not attend Lenz's court appearance and would not speak to reporters.

 

"We hope this incident helps focus attention to the need for increased fire safety training and supervision of minor counselors," they said. "The love Sean had for the camp and his friends on staff demands that every effort be taken to ensure their absolute safety."

 

Lenz, tall and pale with close-cropped brown hair, did not speak in court other than to answer, "Yes, sir" to a series of technical questions the judge asked. Outside the courtroom, Lenz and his parents, other relatives and lawyer all declined to comment.

 

The Whitleys' lawyer, Joel Rosen, would not say how the family feels about Lenz being admitted to the intervention program. But a prosecutor said the family was consulted before the decision was made to offer it to Lenz.

 

Pretrial intervention is designed for nonviolent, first-time offenders. It lets them avoid criminal prosecution in return for staying out of trouble for a year, performing community service, and paying fines or restitution.

 

Whitley, who lived in Evesham in Burlington County, was attending the first day of the weeklong camp in Lenz's hometown. Whitley and his brother Kenneth were staff members at the camp, which they had both attended for years.

 

A Web site by Whitley's family and friends described him as "a quiet, intelligent kid with a dry sense of humor. He and his twin brother Ken were inseparable and did nearly everything together.

 

"Not overly athletic or academically driven, Scouting gave him the opportunity to shine and to display the maturity and responsible nature that seemed unusual for his age," they wrote on the site. "His enthusiasm for Scouting and for the friends he made through it were extraordinary."

 

 

Lest we forget

 

Sean P. Whitley, 17, of Marlton died July 10, 2008.

 

He was a student at Cherokee High School in Marlton. He was a member of Evesham Boy Scout Troop 100, a brotherhood member of the Order of the Arrow, a member of Jersey Shore Council Venture Crew 85 and a staff member at Joseph A. Citta Scout Reservation.

 

As I recall, his school held an observance in the fall where many classmates wore green - some were scout uniforms but most were civilian. Both Sean and his twin brother Kenneth were working towards Eagle that summer. The remaining scout who was burned was a 14 year old Eagle Scout.

 

 

 

(This message has been edited by RememberSchiff)

[Eamonn]

What a really tragic story.

My heart goes out to all the boys and the families that were touched by this.

The heading that you posted:

"Teach Safety. "

I think covers what needs to be said.

For my part I will print out the news clipping and ask our Skipper to share it with all the Sea Scouts.

Thank you for bringing it to my attention.

Eamonn.

 

[scoutldr]

"Boy Scout policies prohibit the use or possession of flammable liquids, and the leader of the local Scout council said two adults are supposed to be present "in all situations.""

 

I must have missed that memo.

 

 

[Stosh]

A terrible and avoidable incident should not set precident for policy changes in the BSA program and emphasis. It is truly unfortunate that such things happen, but had there been a fatal car accident on the way to camp it would not automatically mean boys should seek other modes of transportation in getting to camp. Boys do stupid things and adults should be ever vigilant to any and all situations, but there comes a time when the boys need to be allowed some space to demonstrate their leadership and maturity of decisions they make. I'm sure there are plenty of other "examples" of boys doing stupid/unsafe things that could be used to shut down the entire BSA program as a whole. Isolated incidents should not be used to promote specific agendas and instead remain dire warnings to a vigilant adult leadership.

 

This response should in no way detract from the tragedy, nor is it to reduce it's importance in any way, shape or form.

 

Stosh

[shortridge]

This is a tragedy. But I agree with Stosh. It was completely avoidable.

 

I hope the two-adults-present-in-ever-situation statement was a misunderstanding on the part of the reporter. Even so, the young man involved was 18 - an adult by BSA rules. Would the presence of another 18-year-old have changed what happened?

 

My prayers go out to the families of all those involved.

[Beavah]

Yah, and an overzealous prosecutor too, eh? I think it would be hard to make an aggravated assault case against an 18 year old for an accident like this. Clearly the parents were pushin' it. That happens sometimes, but it's more likely to happen if da parties get adversarial early on.

 

What's interestin' would be how many minor incidents of this type have occurred over the years, eh? If da BSA would responsibly share incident & accident reports, perhaps a greater number of older youth and adults would be alert to the risks of various situations. Adding to policies or after-the-fact "education programs" don't usually gain much traction in terms of real prevention.

 

Beavah

 

 

 

[Eamonn]

To the best of my knowledge the BSA Policy on Flammable Liquids has been around for a fair amount of time.

I'm thinking over ten years?

Section 7 of the G2SS - Chemical Fuels

Knowledgeable adult supervision must be provided when Scouts are involved in the storage of chemical fuels, the handling of chemical fuels in the filling of stoves or lanterns, or the lighting of chemical fuels. The use of liquid fuels for starting any type of fire is prohibited.

 

I think we all know that adult supervision isn't always going to there when Scouts are out hiking and using different types of stoves.

So training and teaching safety as RememberSchiff posted does seem to be the best way.

Eamonn

 

[scoutldr]

The title of the section refers to "Chemical Fuels"...not "Flammable Liquids".

 

And the REST of the section outlines how to use liquid fuels (which, I believe are all "flammable liquids" - by definition)...safely. If the BSA intended to outlaw liquid fuels altogether, they should say something like "ONLY stoves and lanterns using compressed propane may be used." I interpret the part on "lighting fires" to mean campfires...not cooking stoves.

 

And as someone else pointed out...there was "adult" supervision...the 18 year old staff member.

[eagle77]

Not to be smart but alcohol is a fuel. I have two backpacking stoves that work on alcohol.

[BrentAllen]

These boys were playing with rubbing alcohol, not Coleman liquid fuel. I don't know of anyone who uses rubbing alcohol as a fuel. I've heard of Scouts lighting hand sanitizer in a similar manner. Are we going to ban that? I think not. High expectations in the program would be my answer.

 

This type accident is a SM's worst nightmare. Totally avoidable, not related to any type of risky activity. In a split second, the lives of many are changed forever. Very sad.

 

Edited to ask eagle77 - do you use rubbing alcohol in those stoves? I have alcohol stoves but I don't use that - too sooty.(This message has been edited by BrentAllen)

[Eagledad]

>>Boys do stupid things and adults should be ever vigilant to any and all situations,

[fleetfootedfox]

Sad story. As others pointed out, there are policies on liquid fuels, but the accident was caused by rubbing alcohol, which was probably on hand for first aid, not intended as a fuel. Rather, the alcohol was probably pulled out of a first aid kit, which makes me wonder if we should stop putting it in first aid kits that the boys have access to. Maybe we should use hydrogen peroxide instead.

[eagle77]

Sorry to say I did use rubbing alcohol one time by mistake. It was a mess, but still worked. Won't do it again though.

[Beavah]

Yah, just musin' here...

 

I reckon if we're honest, all of us male adults can recount tales of playin' with pyrotechnics of various kinds in our youth. I can't remember exactly, but I'm pretty sure it was older buddies or somesuch who first explained to me the dangers of flame fronts running backward into containers.

 

I worry all the time that the more things we ban from organized programs the more kids get hurt by those things on their own.

 

I wonder if some experience with pyrotechnics, maybe fireworks in states where they're legal, for example, might help kids scratch that itch and learn safety at da same time. Think of Mythbusters or that copycat show that's always blowin' things up. I bet at least some lads in every troop watch 'em. There's excitement in that, but they also show some of the safety precautions pros put in place.

 

I dunno. Just seems like boys and fire is somethin' we're never goin' to be able to completely ban. So we better educate.

 

Beavah

 

[scoutldr]

Trying to light our backsides on fire comes to mind...circa 1967. But that was a gas, not a liquid.