July 4 is a time to look back on the history of America and reflect on our values and how they’ve grown over the course of the nation’s history. It’s also a great time for minor league ballclubs and people across these 50 states to blow a lot of stuff up, pretending to live in a world without recourse and consequences.
But fireworks are made of, well, fire. And when those explosives are not handled correctly or deployed in the right manner there can be some pretty nasty results. That was certainly the case in Port St. Lucie, where the Mets minor league affiliate had a fireworks display after a game on Thursday that went a bit haywire.
The fireworks sparked a fire beyond the park’s centerfield fence that was a bigger light show than the pyrotechnics.
The Port St. Lucie Class A Mets July 4th fireworks went as well as expected last night. Photo courtesy @BillyOreGolf. Trees beyond center field caught fire. Oops @UniWatch @PhilHecken pic.twitter.com/Yjexlc9Pwh
— StevieW (@StevieW1971) July 5, 2019
Seriously, this was not a small fire that was sparked by the haphazard display.
The fireworks for the St. Lucie Mets did not go well tonight at First Data Field. They set a fire outside the stadium.
Photos from Shannon Cullen pic.twitter.com/KaALifPeki
— Mike Mayer (@mikemayer22) July 5, 2019
This was a full-blown, palm trees on fire Florida fire that looked pretty menacing.
Some more pictures of the Mets fireworks fire in Port St. Lucie from a friend that was there pic.twitter.com/vTWXxknZsp
— Brody Logan (@BrodyLogan) July 5, 2019
As this video shows, the fire was sparked a good distance away from the field. But it was pretty serious.
@WPBF25News First Data Field fireworks end with a.. fire.#PSL #Fireworks #fire pic.twitter.com/B305RXfFo0
— Eric (@ericjx) July 5, 2019
And perhaps what’s most impressive about the fire is that the fireworks display just… kept going while the blaze spread.
They were still shooting off fireworks as the fire blazed https://t.co/gYTraqVw08
— Brody Logan (@BrodyLogan) July 5, 2019
This isn’t the first time a fireworks display went wrong for the Mets, either. In fact, this happened back in 2017 as well.
3-4 acre brush fire broke out last night after fireworks display at stadium in Port St. Lucie, FL; authorities say fire was under control. pic.twitter.com/yFYuc2C5g5
— ABC News (@ABC) April 8, 2017
Maybe they should stick with other promotions for a little while while they replant some trees and whatnot.