of charles city fourth of july fireworks misfire accident

Iowa Fireworks Display Injures 12: An accident during a municipal Fourth of July fireworks display injured at least a dozen people, local fire officials said. Most of the victims suffered minor injuries. The Charles City Fire Department said the accident occurred when ground level fireworks were exploding Friday night. Witnesses said a fireball veered into the crowd of spectators.


A firework shell explodes near a crowd of people in Charles City, Iowa on Friday, July 4, 2008, during its Fourth of July Fireworks Display, just as the show was gearing for the finale.

Watch the videos at YouTube. The first video ("Charles City Fireworks gone bad 2008") was supposedly captured by someone from a distance. The person says,

Fireworks goes terribly wrong at about the 20 minute mark of a 30 minute display. We thought we were wathcing from a safe distance of about 2 blocks across the river when all of a sudden massive amnounts of the fireworks go off on the ground sending many to the hospital and some had to be airlifted. The video goes black as I try to cover up my wife as the fireworks were hitting the rocks just in front of us. No one in our group was injured. Please pray for the injured.

The second video ("Charles City, Iowa's 4th of July fireworks") is an aerial video.



Read more:
- Charles City Fireworks Mishap Injures 37
- 37 injured in Iowa fireworks misfire

In another accident, Five people were injured in a fireworks accident in Union Township, Clermont County, on Friday night. The incident happened in the 4400 block of Shepard Road just after 9:30 p.m. Officials said an illegal mortar firework exploded in a tree near ground level. A woman burned over half her body and a child were transported to local hospitals. Three others were treated at the scene for minor injuries.