U-Haul Filled With Fireworks Ignites, 4 Injured

Toledo, Ohio, suffered one of the worst fireworks accidents of the year this weekend when a U-Haul [...]

By Michael Hein

Toledo, Ohio, suffered one of the worst fireworks accidents of the year this weekend when a U-Haul truck full of fireworks exploded all at once. According to a report by local ABC News affiliate ABC 13, the truck was parked near a block party on Nevada Avenue near Berry Street on Sunday night. After it exploded, four people needed to be hospitalized.

About 150 people were at the Toledo block party celebrating the Fourth of July when the untimely explosion happened. Authorities are still trying to pin down exactly what caused the misfire, and arson investigators are reportedly involved. The explosion damaged nearby homes and cars and injured several people, including four who needed to be hospitalized for non-life-threatening injuries. Toledo Fire and Rescue arrived in time to extinguish the truck and secure the undetonated fireworks in the street after the blast.

Private Sterling Rahe of the fire department told reporters: "What we do know is there was a storage area outside the truck and inside the truck that had fireworks that ignited, causing a very large explosion on the ground that continued shooting for 5 to 10 minutes. This is something that we talked about before the holiday, the dangers of using fireworks because when they go bad, they can go bad quickly."

The explosion was caught on video and is still horrifying viewers as it makes its way across social media. One person commented: "They're lucky they didn't burn any of those wooden houses down. Why are those people running *towards* the explosions? I hope the 4 injured recover fully. I hope whoever is responsible for this incredibly dangerous and completely avoidable disaster gets charged appropriately."

This incident was just one of several major fireworks accidents around the U.S. this weekend, sparking fresh debate about the explosive tradition in general. All states have some laws and restrictions on fireworks, which are indexed here on the Phantom Fireworks website. However, more and more people are calling for tighter restrictions or stronger enforcement in their areas.

A similarly centralized explosion rocked the beach in Ocean City, Maryland, on Sunday morning, forcing the town to cancel its scheduled fireworks display that night. There, too, a chain reaction explosion sent revelers scrambling away in panic, but thankfully no one was hurt. However, police had to shut down part of the beach and the boardwalk in order to secure the area.

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