Large Blaze Ends Connecticut Fireworks Show in a Flash
Spectators in Connecticut got a lot more than they bargained for when a large fire broke out on a barge that was serving as the launching pad for an annual fireworks display.
According to the Hartford Courant, the unexpected fire ended the Middletown Fireworks Festival in a hurry this past Saturday (July 7) causing the Middletown Firefighters to spring into action via fireboat.
Thankfully, the blaze didn't cause any injuries, reportedly due to the fact that the fire was sparked sometime during the display's grand finale. Since it was the end of the show, most of the dangerous explosives had already been set off, so only a small amount of fireworks exploded in the fire. Nonetheless, the fire and subsequent explosions caused quite the scary scene as you can see in the following video:
A pre-festival tweet from the Mayor of Middletown gives a great view of what the barge looked like before the fire, as it was being prepped for the night's festivities on the Connecticut River:
The Courant went on to explain that when the fire started, Middletown's Fire Chief, Robert Kronenberger, told the pyrotechnic operators to finish firing off the remaining fireworks, so that there were no more unexpected explosions while firefighters from Cromwell, Middletown, and Portland took to the fireboats to out the blaze under control.
While the fire is still under investigation, here are the two follow up tweets from Mayor Dan Drew, explaining what he thinks may have been the cause:
As you can see from the footage and images, we're all very fortunate that there were no injuries and the fire caused minimal damage.
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