20-year-old man suffers cuts, burns to face and hand in fireworks accident

A 20-year-old male was taken to the hospital after a fireworks accident left him with burns to his face and hand Thursday night, according to the Menlo Park Fire Protection District.

First responders were called to the front of a building on the 2900 block of Calvin Avenue in unincorporated North Fair Oaks at 10:58 p.m. Thursday, the district said in a news release. There, Capt./paramedic Chris Dennebaum and his crew found a man with lacerations and burns to his face and a hand from a glass bottle that exploded with fireworks inside it.

“His eye was completely swollen shut, especially with the underlying burns and lacerations caused by the glass and explosive device’s gun powder and packing material,” Dennebaum said in a statement.

Two of the fire engines and the ladder truck sent to the scene because of a report of an explosion were turned around, and the victim was taken by ambulance to Stanford Hospital.

In a statement, Fire Chief Harold Schapelhouman urged residents to be cautious around fireworks, even the “safe and sane” ones that are legal in some Bay Area cities. The explosives can sometimes lead to “terrible unintended consequences,” he said.

“I feel like a broken record sometimes talking about the personal dangers of using fireworks every year,” Schapelhouman said.

“Ask most firefighters about what we see every year and most can tell you horror stories about people who have blown fingers off, been blinded, lost hearing, or worse, because of illegal and legal (in some cities) fireworks use.”

A man in his 30s had his hand amputated after a fireworks accident Thursday in Ontario in Southern California.

Firework sales have been booming in California and in the Bay Area, where large city-organized Fourth of July celebrations have been canceled to limit crowds and preserve social distancing amid the COVID-19 pandemic.