A fireworks show abruptly ended Sunday night at Scissortail Park because a malfunction caused fireworks to shoot into the crowd. | MORE | Injuries reported after fireworks malfunction at OKC’s Red, White and Boom celebrationBut the CEO of Scissortail Park told KOCO 5 they were following proper safety measures.”All of those safety guidelines were followed,” Scissortail Park CEO Maureen Heffernan said. “Unfortunately, with explosives, sometimes accidents happen.”Authorities cut the fireworks show short because of explosives launching in the wrong direction.”One of the fireworks was supposed to go up, and they spread out horizontally, exploded horizontally,” Oklahoma City Fire Department shift commander David Shearer said. The malfunctioning fireworks hit a mother and her toddler, causing minor injuries. The mother went to the hospital.”The mother had several burn marks that were the size of a golf ball to the back of her legs,” Shearer said. “Some were first-degree burns, and some were second-degree burns.””It’s a rare occurrence, but the shell did malfunction,” Heffernan said.Fire department officials also said the park had proper protocols in place, and their crews monitored the event.”This family was very close to the edge of the perimeter, but they were outside the designated perimeter,” Shearer said. So, how will authorities prevent this kind of incident at future events?”One thing, we could further expand the barrier of where we’re letting them off,” Heffernan said. “But I want to stress all of that was definitely followed to the letter of the law last evening.”
A fireworks show abruptly ended Sunday night at Scissortail Park because a malfunction caused fireworks to shoot into the crowd.
| MORE | Injuries reported after fireworks malfunction at OKC’s Red, White and Boom celebration
But the CEO of Scissortail Park told KOCO 5 they were following proper safety measures.
“All of those safety guidelines were followed,” Scissortail Park CEO Maureen Heffernan said. “Unfortunately, with explosives, sometimes accidents happen.”
Authorities cut the fireworks show short because of explosives launching in the wrong direction.
“One of the fireworks was supposed to go up, and they spread out horizontally, exploded horizontally,” Oklahoma City Fire Department shift commander David Shearer said.
The malfunctioning fireworks hit a mother and her toddler, causing minor injuries. The mother went to the hospital.
“The mother had several burn marks that were the size of a golf ball to the back of her legs,” Shearer said. “Some were first-degree burns, and some were second-degree burns.”
“It’s a rare occurrence, but the shell did malfunction,” Heffernan said.
Fire department officials also said the park had proper protocols in place, and their crews monitored the event.
“This family was very close to the edge of the perimeter, but they were outside the designated perimeter,” Shearer said.
So, how will authorities prevent this kind of incident at future events?
“One thing, we could further expand the barrier of where we’re letting them off,” Heffernan said. “But I want to stress all of that was definitely followed to the letter of the law last evening.”
