Five injured in Ticonderoga fireworks mishap

Tag : Tube Fuse



TICONDEROGA -- Five people were injured Friday evening after afireworks display went haywire just before the grand finale, EssexCounty Sheriff’s officers said.
Police said the accident occurred at around 10:40 p.m. at a littleleague field when a firework was placed in a six-inch tube andprematurely exploded after its fuse was lit.

The explosion scattered fragments over 200 feet striking severalemployees of the company that was setting off the fireworks and twopeople in the crowd, according to police.
John M. Michalak, 42, and an employee of the Nassau County-basedPyro Engineering, Inc., was taken to Moses Ludington Hospital forlacerations and bruises on his right leg, police said.

Police said it was Michalak who lit the fuse of the firework thataccidently exploded.

Michalak was later transported by ambulance to Fletcher AllenHospital in Burlington, Vt., according to police.

The explosion also injured a 16-year-old Port Henry teen, a40-year-old from Vermont and another employee of the fireworkscompany, officials said.

The mishap canceled the rest the of the fireworks display, policesaid.

To read more on this story, see Sunday's Post-Star .