Exclusive | Keg explosion at NYC bar injures school teacher: lawsuit

A true bar fiasco.An exploding keg at a New York City bar allegedly left an unsuspecting school teacher with severe injuries, according to a recently filed lawsuit.  Steven Garrand was enjoying an evening at a Hamilton Heights bar — ironically called Bar Fiasco — in October 2022 when the booze barrel allegedly blasted on the second floor.The 42-year-old, an elementary physical education teacher, is demanding unspecified damages stemming from the alcoholic debacle. Bar Fiasco, which boasts craft beer and natural wines, and Garrand’s attorney did not immediately return requests for comment.Injury — and in extreme cases, death — by keg isn’t as uncommon as one may think.A Brazilian man named Gilson do Nascimento, 43, died at his own birthday party in 2021 while trying to fix a malfunctioning keg. The beer dispenser blew up – causing sharp metal shards to hit his head. Ben Harris, an employee at Redhook Ale Brewery in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, was killed while pressure-cleaning a plastic keg that exploded in 2012. The brewery’s parent company, Craft Brew Alliance, was subsequently slammed with $63,500 in OSHA fines, according to NPR. Years later, Harris’ family was awarded a whopping $1.2 million in a wrongful death lawsuit. In 2006, a keg exploded after being hurled into a bonfire in Milford, Connecticut – killing 22-year-old Sean Caselli and injuring seven others when sharp metal shards shot through the air, News Channel 10 reported. William Orlosky was working as the grounds manager of a Long Island country club in 1971 when he was flung 150 feet into the air while pumping gas into a keg, per The New York Times.Police at the time said Orlosky, 31, died from severe head injuries. ...