Mass Casualty Incident on Crescent City Beach After Fireworks Accident Yesterday

Video by Jalea Aubrey shows the firework display and then an explosion.

A tragic incident occurred last night, July 4, on the beach near Crescent City when a private fireworks display went horribly wrong, resulting in a mass casualty event. Just before 10:30 p.m., a group of people was setting off large fireworks for families gathered on the beach. The display, not affiliated with the city, ended in disaster when a box of fireworks ignited prematurely, sending mortars flying into the crowd. (See another video here if you can’t see it below.)

Crescent City Fire and Rescue Chief Kevin Carey told us, “Apparently (facts and investigation ongoing) a large display of fireworks from an individual had some sort of mishap in its operation. This, in turn, caused other ignition and explosions of other combustibles in the vicinity. Fireworks/exploding debris injured 14 individuals… ”

Chief Carey explained, “An MCI (multi casualty incident) was declared. US 101 HWY completely shut down for the incident. Victims varied in age and are still being confirmed.”

Among the injured was SuZanna Church’s nephew, who suffered severe burns and a collapsed lung. “My nephew was hit in the back by a mortar, causing his lung to collapse and severe burns,” Church recounted. “It also caused burns on my sister’s body.” She added that another young family member was also burned.

Church described the chaos that ensued, noting the presence of a nearby officer who was able to assist immediately. “Luckily, there was an officer close,” Church told us. My sister spotted [the officer] after she had taken the kids from the explosion. [She and her child had] hid behind a car, and then ran to the police officer who called an ambulance. Once at the hospital, they weren’t equipped to handle my nephew’s injuries, so they life-flighted him to Portland. They had to make a pit stop because he flatlined, and they had to resuscitate him.”

The incident led to a chaotic scene. The scanner showed the challenges emergency personnel faced. Note: This audio has been edited to remove silences, radio static, non-pertinent traffic, and other calls

According to the scanner, at about 10:30 p.m. multiple reports of injuries came in–a 62-year-old female reportedly had severed fingers and there were multiple burns reported. By 10:31 p.m., a physical fight had broken out. Yurok tribal units left from Klamath at 10:35 p.m., and assisted in shutting down the road to Elk Valley and also shut down Highway 101.

Triage was conducted on patients in the middle of the road. By 11:14 p.m., the roadway was cleared, but investigative work continued, focusing on illegal fireworks.

Church asked us to post a heartfelt plea to leave such displays to professionals. “I would love for everyone to know that while I understand that economically, things are hard, it’s been such a rough couple years, and we’re all locked inside and we’re all starving for unity, I can understand how this would have been an idea to go out to light fireworks for the kids, for families, and to just unify,” she told us, “But there’s a reason that they’re illegal. There’s a reason that we shouldn’t be doing this, and that cities should be running these sorts of shows, like they did in Eureka on the Bay, where they’re controlled.”

Church urged the community to discard any personal fireworks they might have. “I just encourage anyone that has mortars or bottle rockets or Roman candles in their garages to throw them away. Because we’re average people. We go to work every day. We’re normal Joe, normal people, and this could happen to you. So protect your kids, protect your families, protect other people’s families. That’s the biggest form of community is when we protect each other.”

Chief Carey thanked all the crews involved including Crescent City Fire and Rescue units, “Del Norte Ambulance, Cal Ore ambulance (mutual aid request), Fortuna Fire (covering the Cal Fire station, Del Norte Sheriffs, CHP, and Crescent City PD all responded together to mitigate the incident.  I would like to commend the volunteers and staff of the Crescent City Fire & Rescue who staffed 4 engines, a water tender, 4 divisions, a utility, and an IC all night to provide emergency response throughout the day and night…Also, the teamwork of the agencies mentioned above and those in the public who cooperated and offered help. Our prayers and well wishes go out to all those injured.”

Authorities are investigating the incident, and more information will be provided as it becomes available.

Below is the GoFundMe for the family of the injured child: