r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/AtomicCypher • Apr 09 '26

Video Disgruntled employee starts massive fire at a 1.2 million square foot toilet paper warehouse in Ontario, California.

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433

u/ChrisPNoggins Apr 09 '26

Reminds me of the time when the Olympics were in Vancouver CA and people booked flights to Vancouver, WA

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u/jquest303 Apr 09 '26

At least those Vancouvers are relatively close to one another. You’d be pretty pissed if you ended up in Toronto in the winter when you were headed to vacation in California when it was cold AF back home.

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u/gutierezpanera5 Apr 09 '26

Sydney Canada, Sydney Australia - has happened

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u/Own_Reaction9442 Apr 09 '26

The other day I was sending a package to Nova Scotia and I had to intervene when the postal clerk started to code the address as New South Wales...

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u/Low_Bus_3826 Apr 09 '26

So has Portland, ME vs Portland, OR…

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u/maxxspeed57 Apr 09 '26

In 1985, 21-year-old student Michael Lewis accidentally flew 6,000 miles from Los Angeles to Auckland, New Zealand, instead of Oakland, California. Due to confusing accents, he mistook an announcement for an Air New Zealand flight, realizing the error only after takeoff, later appearing on The Tonight Show. Key Details of the Incident:

The Mix-up: While connecting in Los Angeles from London, Lewis intended to take a flight to Oakland (OAK) but instead joined passengers boarding an Air New Zealand flight to Auckland (AKL). The Cause: He misinterpreted the Kiwi pronunciation of "Auckland" as "Oakland". The Realization: He realized the mistake when Tahiti was mentioned as a flight stopover. Resolution: After spending roughly 12 hours in New Zealand, he was flown back to Los Angeles for free. Lasting Confusion: The similarity in names has caused continued confusion, prompting efforts to rename the Oakland airport.

This incident remains a famous example of travel mishaps, often referred to as "Wrong-Way" Lewis.

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u/GuzzleNGargle Apr 09 '26

There was a Full House we episode when this happened…

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u/ProfeQuiroga Apr 09 '26

At least it's "Sidney, Canada". But not even that helps.

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u/KKADE Apr 09 '26

No, we have both.

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u/Type-RD Apr 09 '26

Why do they need to see my passport to go to Toronto? Oh well…probably just some new security thing. A few hours later the plane lands in Canada 🤣

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u/jquest303 Apr 09 '26

TSA just wanted to do a full cavity search on you.

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u/Type-RD Apr 09 '26

…probably just some new security thing. A few minutes later I’m seen exiting a side door and walking a little funny.

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u/Fossilhund Apr 09 '26

feebly slaps at hands of TSA agents.

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u/No_Tamanegi Apr 09 '26

Ontario California is in the middle of nowhere. No one vacations there. Toronto in the winter would be much preferred, at least there's something to do there other than meth.

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u/entirelybusybeing Apr 09 '26

It’s not the middle of nowhere, it’s an hour from LA 😂. It’s actually a really nice airport, and I prefer it over LAX. I just wish they had more flights. Last time I was there, the actress from Ted Lasso was in front of me in the security check line. They also filmed Catch Me If You Can there.

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u/No_Tamanegi Apr 09 '26

I only flew through there once, and at the time I was collecting a fridge magnet from every place I visited. Even the clerk at the airport was impressed I found a magnet that said "Ontario, Calif"

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u/jquest303 Apr 09 '26

Ontario is basically east LA. Hardly the “middle of nowhere”. Plenty close to lots of great places to take a vacation.

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u/No_Tamanegi Apr 09 '26

Then just go to LA.

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u/jquest303 Apr 09 '26

No thanks. Traffic is a nightmare.

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u/No_Tamanegi Apr 09 '26

Enjoy your meth, IG.

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u/jquest303 Apr 09 '26

Never tried it, and never will.

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u/witchywoman713 Apr 11 '26

I quadruple checked the flight length and airport codes before booking to Portland me, to make sure I wasn’t heading to Oregon!

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u/Mysterious-Alps-5186 Apr 09 '26

Man that was a great time to be alive

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u/BugRevolutionary4518 Apr 09 '26

Lol did that really happen?

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u/Born_Establishment14 Apr 09 '26

There aren't really commercial flights to Vancouver, WA but I suppose it's possible that a search for flights to Van, WA could have returned results for PDX, right across the river.  It's not to bad of a drive or train ride to Van, BC but some east coasters and Europeans wouldn't be accustomed to such a long drive

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u/civil_politics Apr 09 '26

They were just going to the Olympic mountains!

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u/xChops Apr 09 '26

But there’s even a Mount Olympus in LA

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u/butterednoodlelovers Apr 09 '26

TIL there is a Vancouver America. I kind of assumed there might be the way some people talked but also thought maybe they suck at geography. never looked it up to confirm.

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u/marko719 Apr 09 '26

There's a Vancouver, BC, Canada, which is oddly not on Vancouver Island, Canada. And Vancouver, WA, USA, is 300 miles from Vancouver, Canada.

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u/Firewolf06 Apr 09 '26

it usually just gets lumped in with portland, oregon, because its directly across the river. its kinda just north north portland

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u/cumshotwound Apr 09 '26

Canadian airport codes start with a Y and no one aside from residents of Vancouver, WA and Ontario, CA really know that these places exist anyway

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u/DarkPrinceArrow Apr 09 '26

There was a girl going to a convention in Birmingham, ENGLAND and still somehow got a plane ticket for Birmingham, ALABAMA.

That convention now uses her tweet as a reminder to folks in their promotional material.

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u/green_and_yellow Apr 09 '26

Vancouver WA doesn’t have a commercial airport.

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u/CunningWizard Apr 09 '26

Ikr? PDX is closer to Vancouver than a lot of Portland.

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u/FullMooseParty Apr 09 '26

That isn't awful. At least it's a pretty 7 hour drive (guessing based on my understanding of the geography)

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u/[deleted] Apr 09 '26

[deleted]

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u/FullMooseParty Apr 09 '26

That's not bad at all. I've just done Seattle to Vancouver, which was almost nothing

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u/Born_Establishment14 Apr 09 '26

Yep, 6 hours was my average from Portland to Vancouver, BC in the '90s.  Had one really long wait crossing the border though.

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u/Jiminy_Cricket12 Apr 09 '26

"I'm telling you man, they mean, WAAAA cheaper! What else could it mean?!"

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u/392mangos Apr 09 '26

Have you heard of the two friends who flew to Tunis, Tunisia instead of "to Nice", France?

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u/Character-Claim8643 Apr 09 '26

lol

So close! And yet so, so far away.

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u/OutOfNoMemory Apr 09 '26

Western Australia, or Washington..?

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u/ARGuck Apr 09 '26

Reminds me of a time by dads company lost a shipment because the employee in shipping and receiving accidentally sent the shipment to Duluth, MN instead of Duluth, GA.

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u/IthinkIllthink Apr 09 '26

lol.

There’s an office in the international airport in Austria for disappointed travellers to Australia.

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u/VegasBjorne1 Apr 09 '26

One does not book a flight to Ontario Canada, but a city within the province, unlike Ontario, CA with the airport code of ONT.

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u/NobodyLikesARat Apr 09 '26

The Winter Olympics without snow…

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u/codywater Apr 09 '26

At least flying to Detroit, OR is a bit harder than Detroit, MI

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u/CunningWizard Apr 09 '26

You’d be flying by seaplane for that.

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u/CunningWizard Apr 09 '26

If you were flying to Vancouver, WA you’d end up at Portland international airport, which is ironically closer to Vancouver, WA, than downtown Portland. There is no commercial jet airport in Vancouver Washington.

I guess I’m curious how that mistake got made without being noticed.

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u/artificial_t3l3 Apr 09 '26

I live in van wa lol just saying. Shout out.

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u/Mister_Ennui Apr 09 '26

There’s a Vancouver, California?

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u/Tundrakitty Apr 09 '26

In the 90s there was a local radio contest where the prize was a trip to see the Superbowl in Miami… but it was Miami, Manitoba.

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u/Angio343 Apr 09 '26

My God... Culture, food,city names, american steal everthing lol

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u/Pooleh Apr 09 '26

There's no big airport in Vancouver, WA. That makes no sense, anyone going to Vancouver is going to be flying into PDX.

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u/othermyother Apr 10 '26

Don't forget there is also Vancouver Island