Multiple fireworks packed together may have led to serious accident

LACONIA — A fireworks accident on Friday which left two people injured may have been due to an attempt to intensify the force of smaller fireworks, the city’s fire chief said Monday.

Chief Kirk Beattie said it appears that multiple fireworks were being placed inside a metal cylinder when the homemade device exploded, injuring two people, one of them seriously.

Beattie stressed that the investigation is still in the “very early stages,” and so it will take some time before all the circumstances surrounding the accident are fully known. The state Fire Marshal’s Office is involved in the ongoing investigation.

The chief did not release the names of either victim.

Asked about the extent of injuries to the victim who was more seriously hurt, Beattie said flatly, “Very serious.” He added that that victim was airlifted from Lakes Region General Hospital to another hospital for further treatment, but he did not know which one.

The accident occurred at 9:34 p.m. Friday on Provencal Road in the vicinity of Mile Hill Road.

The incident was one of two fireworks-related calls the Fire Department dealt with over the Fourth of July weekend.

Shortly after midnight Friday, firefighters went to a condominium complex at 738 Weirs Boulevard to extinguish a fire in a large metal trash bin which started when discarded, expended fireworks set the bin’s contents on fire.

The Fire Department was alerted when residents in the complex saw fire coming out of the container. The damage was limited to the container, Beattie said.

The chief said that improper disposal of exploded fireworks can be as dangerous as not properly disposing of ashes from a woodstove.

“We advise that people soak used fireworks in water for two hours before disposing of them,” he said.