Man tries to put out fire by driving over it in a van full of ammunition

A van with firearms ammunition burns after its owner drove it over a fire in an effort to put it out. A van with firearms ammunition burns after its owner drove it over a fire in an effort to put it out. Photo: Clay County Sheriff’s Office, Courtesy Photo: Clay County Sheriff’s Office, Courtesy Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close Man tries to put out fire by driving over it in a van full of ammunition 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

When a Clay County, Missouri sheriff's deputy came upon a burning van in a field, he went in search of its owner.

A short time later, he came upon a man watching the fire. This man was the van's owner, and a series of unfortunate events had led him to that moment.

Some time earlier, the man had been setting garbage on fire in a field — the first bad decision. The fire started getting out of hand, so the man hopped in his van and drove "back and forth over the flames" in an effort to put it out. That's bad decision number two.

The mother of bad decisions happened next, when the man remembered he had both a full tank of gas AND firearms ammunition in the vehicle. The burning smell started getting stronger and the man realized his tires were on fire.

The man bailed on the vehicle and ran off to safety. The sheriff's deputy reported he heard the sound of the ammo going off inside the van.

No one was harmed, but the people who pick the Darwin Awards winners were probably just a tiny bit disappointed.

Firefighters put out the blaze, and the Kansas City Star reports that the man was not immediately cited. He did, however, have the grace to not make a report for an insurance claim.

"It seems like he's just going to have to take a loss on that vehicle because I don't think they're going to cover it," Clay County Sheriff's Office spokesman Jon Bazzano told the Star.