An Ohio man died while shooting off fireworks in front of his children early July 2, officials said.
Police officers were called to a house in Toledo around 12:30 a.m. and arrived to find a man dead.
He was later identified as 61-year-old Floyd Temple.
Officials told WTOL that Temple was lighting large fireworks in his front yard. He lit one that was facing towards him and it hit him in the chest.
“He tried to fire off a rocket that goes up into the sky and it backfired and took his chest off,” said Benjamin Avalos, a friend of Temple.
Rick Tuggle, a neighbor, said that he was one of the first to learn of what happened.
“It went off and his chest exploded, and [the kids] ran over to my house and told me about it. That’s when police showed up,” he said. “They were sitting over there. They’re probably traumatized right now, I got to go check on them to see where their head at right now because they’re probably traumatized. They were sitting right there on the stairs when it happened. One of my kids was sitting right there on those stairs.”
Officials said people should be careful when setting off fireworks.
“It could’ve been a lot worse with those kids running around when you think about Fourth of July and having fun and enjoying the time and we want people to do that but this again is an example of what can go wrong when we talk about fireworks,” Private Sterling Rahe with Toledo Fire & Rescue Department told WNWO.
People illegally setting off fireworks could be arrested, police added.
Children watched as a man died shooting off fireworks in his yard.@WKRG #July4th https://t.co/5l8Fj7lv7X
— Cherish Lombard (@cherishlombard) July 2, 2019
They also advised against gunshots fired in celebration, which they said is dangerous and illegal.
“If that is a practice that you have partaken in in the past please stop because if we catch you, you’re going to go to jail and your guns are going to be taken,” said Lt. Kevan Toney of the Toledo Police Department.
Rahe told the Toledo Blade that children should not be around fireworks.
“Keep the kids away,” he said. “Don’t let the kids handle them.”
Tragic situation this morning: one man is dead after a fireworks accident. Detectives believe he lit it facing the wrong direction, and it exploded in his chest. It happened on the front porch of his home on Lagrange. Hear from neighbors and witnesses on @WTOL11Toledo pic.twitter.com/gN0R5G373x
— ARIYL ONSTOTT (@ariylonstott) July 2, 2019
Accidents can lead to burns, amputations, and death, he said. He called Temple’s death “a very preventable accident.”
According to the Cincinnati Enquirer, Ohio law bans setting off fireworks even though it’s legal to buy them in the state. People who set them off face a misdemeanor and a maximum sentence of six months in prison and a $1,000 fine.
Exceptions to the ban include sparklers on a wire stick.
Ohio State Fire Marshal Jeff Hussey said that most law enforcement officers aren’t concerned with fireworks being set off in people’s yards but are targeting homemade fireworks.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission said in a report (pdf) released in June that commission staff received reports of five nonoccupational fireworks-related deaths during 2018. All five victims died from direct impacts from fireworks. More deaths may come to light in future months, the commission said.
In addition to the deaths, fireworks were involved in some 9,100 injuries that led to treatment at hospitals, the commission said.
The parts of the body most often injured by fireworks accidents were hands and fingers (28 percent), legs (24 percent), and eyes (19 percent).
