Man lighting fireworks killed when one hits him in the head, Washington cops say
A 45-year-old man was setting off fireworks when one struck him in the head, killing him, police in Washington said.
The man from Bothell was found unconscious in front of a business at about 2:30 a.m. July 5 in the 11500 block of Avondale Road, the Redmond Police Department said in a news release.
He had been lighting mortar-style fireworks, police said. These fireworks explode after the fuse has been lit and “send dozens of glittering stars into the sky,” according to Red Apple Fireworks.
One firework hit the man in the back of his head, police said.
He wasn’t breathing when he was found in the parking lot and was pronounced dead, police said.
He died from “an accidental explosion from the fireworks,” according to police. The man’s name has not been publicly released.
No one else was injured, police said.
What kind of fireworks are legal in Washington?
Reloadable mortar fireworks are legal in the state, according to Washington State Patrol and the State Fire Marshal’s Office.
These fireworks have a “shell consisting of a container, a lift charge, a time fuse, a burst charge, and stars/effects. The lift charge propels the shell out of the tube igniting the burst charge at the right altitude, igniting the effects,” officials said.
Other legal fireworks include smoke devices, aerial spinners, roman candles, wheels, ground spinners, cylindrical foundations, cone fountains and parachutes.
However, firecrackers, sky rockets and missiles, and bottle rockets are illegal.
Redmond is about a 15-mile drive northeast from Seattle.
