Fourth Of July Mishap In Colorado Sends Fireworks Exploding Into Crowd

If you’re an American, the sounds of the Fourth of July are undoubtedly familiar to you… the boom of bigger fireworks and the endless pops of smaller ones, followed a short time thereafter by the echos of multiple fire trucks rushing around town putting out fireworks-related blazes. Just as you can expect to see a big picture of the American flag on the front of news sites on the 4th, the 5th is all about fireworks accidents.

This year, there was the man who used his head as a fireworks launch pad and died. Jason Pierre-Paul’s $14.8 million contract with the New York Giants is in jeopardy after blowing fingers off his hand. And there was a dangerous mishap during Avon, Colorado’s official fireworks display, where several fireworks flew low enough to explode into the crowd. Via Mashable:

Town manager Virginia Egger told the Associated Press that a malfunction caused a fireworks shell to explode in its tube, rather than fire into the sky Friday night. She said the misfired shell caused a rack of shells to tip, causing two or three shells to go off toward the crowd.
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The accident occurred about 17 minutes into the 23-minute fireworks show over Nottingham Lake, bringing the event to a halt. The annual event attracts about 20,000 people.

There were fortunately no serious injuries, and only nine people suffered minor burns. Here’s another video of the incident from a higher angle, showing the fireworks falling into the crowd:

(Via Mashable)