Fourth Of July Accident: What Went Wrong? [Video]

A frightening Fourth Of July accident at a heavily attended fireworks show in California has injured 28 people, and the relative safety of large fireworks demonstrations has been examined in the wake of the scary incident.

Yesterday’s Fourth Of July accident occurred at the Simi Valley, California show for which 10,000 people were in attendance when something went horribly wrong.

Part of the appeal of a Fourth of July sky show is the relative excitement and volatility of fireworks, and the nature of the display literally backfired and injured dozens in the shocking misfire last night.

The Inquisitr published raw video of the Simi Valley Fourth of July accident, in which it appears a structural failure allowed for a powerful explosive to shoot through the tightly packed throngs, inciting panic in the thousands-strong crowd.

In the clip, delighted crowds observe the Fourth of July display, before onlookers become alarmed and begin urging others to run as the noises grow louder, closer, and more threatening.

Four of the 28 injured received serious injuries, though not life-threatening ones. After the Fourth of July accident, Simi Valley police Cmdr. Stephanie Shannon commented on how the fireworks show went so terribly wrong:

“For some unknown reasons the structure that holds these ordinances collapsed and caused them to be firing into the crowd.”

The nature of the fireworks display meant that the explosives were primed to travel far and fast, Shannon added, saying that what was meant to be an upward trajectory caused rapid movement through the huge crowd:

The fireworks are going to travel the same distance across the park as they would in the air … The ones that had actually ignited that had to run their fuse were going directly into the crowd.

Justice Allen, 17, was at the Simi Valley celebration when the Fourth of July accident and ensuing panic occurred. Allen says:

“There was a big boom, everybody started running down the street, people were screaming… Everybody was just terrified. People hid in bushes.”

After the Fourth of July accident, a triage staging area was set up to treat injured revelers.