Maine Reports First Fireworks Fatality Since 2012 Legalization
CALAIS, Maine, July 5 (UPI) — Maine experienced its first death related to fireworks since making them legal two years ago, according to reports.
Maine Department of Public Safety spokesman Stephen McCausland told reporters 22-year-old Devon Staples died instantly Saturday night after lighting a mortar tube firework from the top of his head during Fourth of July celebrations.
He had reportedly been drinking with friends and setting off fireworks when the incident occurred around 10 p.m. in Calais, Maine.
Staples’ death is the first of its kind recorded since Maine made fireworks legal in March 2012, according to officials.
A June 2014 study by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission tallied 94 fireworks-related deaths in the United States between 2000 and 2013, with eight occurring in 2013.
The incident joins several other non-fatal fireworks accidents across the state on July 4, 2015, including burns and eye injuries in Friendship, Jefferson, Lebanon, Woodstock and a separate incident in Calais.
In Colorado, nine people were injured Saturday after a malfunction caused exploding fireworks shells to launch into a crowd rather than the sky.
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