I agree with the comments here that spread the blame past this author.

I manage a large number of people at a news .com site and know that screw-ups are always a combination of two factors: people & systems.

People are human and will make mistakes. We as upper management have to understand that and create systems, of various tolerance, that deal with those mistakes.

If you're running a system allowing a low-level kid to erase your data, that was your fault.

I'd never fire someone for making a stupid mistake unless it was a pattern.