Dan Score of Woodbury, MN said he was about 50 yards away from the area where the Tofte 4th of July fireworks were being set off. He started taking photos when he saw volunteers running, capturing this frightening 4th of July memory.
At 10:06 p.m. on Saturday, July 4, 2009, about halfway through the town of Tofte’s fireworks presentation near Bluefin Bay Resort, a tube holding a round of fireworks ruptured, sending a five-inch round into the stockpile of pyrotechnics yet to be lighted. The resulting explosion sent the volunteers scattering and startled the crowds lining the lakeshore. Cook County Law Enforcement dispatch received multiple calls reporting the explosion. Fortunately, no one was seriously hurt and by 10:09 p.m., the Tofte Fire Department radioed the emergency dispatcher, stating, “Everything is under control.” The fireworks continued with the finale a few minutes later.
Nearly as fast as the fireworks display, video of the incident was posted to the internet website YouTube. However, the video did not show that the fireworks show resumed, leaving viewers to believe the worst.
Tofte Fire Chief Rich Nelson, who was overseeing the pyrotechnic display said there were 11 volunteers operating the fireworks show, many of them West End firefighters. Some of the volunteers have up to 30 years of experience. “We’ve trained for this,” said Nelson. “We do a drill before we start and everyone picks an escape route. It worked. No one tried to be a hero.”
One Tofte firefighter was injured, not from the explosion, but in the dash to get away from it. She suffered a cut requiring stitches to her knee. At press time she was nearly recovered.
Nelson said the fire department and volunteers had covers over the fireworks to avoid such an explosion, but added that they would look at other ways of handling the pyrotechnics in the future.
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