Fireworks display malfunction hurts 11

Vienna (Map, News) - A rogue mortar launched from a malfunctioning salvo of fireworks injured 11 spectators in Vienna on Wednesday night, fire officials said, the worst in a series of incidents in Fairfax County all seen by the same company.

Seven of the spectators near Vienna Elementary School were hospitalized, two of them with potentially life-threatening injuries, following what appears to have been a failure within one of the fireworks boxes during the finale at 9:45 p.m.

All of the box’s 25 rounds accidentally lit off at once, tipping one over and sending it directly into the crowd, according to Keith Johnson, a chief with the Fairfax County fire marshal.

“It’s unknown why it had a catastrophic failure,” he said at news conference Thursday. “At this point it’s too early to tell.” Five of the seven hospitalized were children, ranging in age from infant to 11. One adult was taken by helicopter to the Washington Hospital Burn Center.

Ronks, Pa.-based Schaefer Pyrotechnics orchestrated four other displays with the “same or similar” problem that night, Johnson said. He said the other incidents, none of which resulted in injuries, occurred at Langley High School, International Town and Country Club, Westwood Country Club, and Springfield Golf and Country Club.

“It’s uncommon to have this many problems in one night,” he said.

Fairfax County inspectors had checked the display twice beforehand and signed off that it met all safety regulations, according to fire department spokesman Dan Schmidt. Under widely used standards adopted by the county, the crowd was kept at a minimum of 280 feet: 70 feet for every inch of width in the mortar. The boxes were surrounded by sandbags.

The Vienna crowd was estimated at several thousand.

Vienna spokeswoman Marie Tiffner said Schaefer Pyrotechnics has conducted the town’s annual fireworks show for the past 10 to 15 years. Schaefer and Vienna are in the middle of a five-year contract that pays the company about $10,000 per show.

The Vienna Town Council awarded the contract to Schaefer a few months before 50 people were injured in a show the company put on in July 2004 near Scranton, Pa., where fireworks flew toward the crowd instead of into the air. After investigating the incident, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration levied $8,100 in fines against Schaefer for improperly labeling and storing chemicals and for protective-equipment violations.

Schaefer declined to comment on Wednesday’s incident, but its Web site says the fireworks company “adheres to strict safety rules.”

Town officials could not recall another similar accident during a fireworks production. Vienna’s Fourth of July fireworks have become a well-attended tradition, annually drawing thousands to watch the display.

“We are all deeply distressed that what has always been an enjoyable family event ended so disastrously, and we are keeping the injured spectators and their families in our prayers,” Mayor Jane Seeman said in a statement posted on the town’s Web site.

wflook@dcexaminer.com

jrogalsky@dcexaminer.com

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