Yesterday in Simi Valley, California, more than two dozen people were injured while watching a fireworks show. A wooden platform tipped over that held the pyrotechnics and the live fireworks went into the crowd of people at the Fourth of July show.
According to FindLaw, between 8,000 and 10,000 revelers were settling into their seats for the fireworks extravaganza at a Simi Valley park on Thursday night. The spectacle of lights that were supposed to be launched in the sky never took off. Instead, a bright plume of red and white bursts spread across the ground, injuring 28 people and sending others fleeing for safety.
There were four people who were in serious condition. There was no one listed with injuries that were considered life threatening. Sixteen other people were taken to hospitals to be treated for minor to moderate injuries. The park was filled with emergency crews who set up triage areas to treat people with injuries. Whatever fireworks remained were handled by a bomb squad.
While police are still considering what led to the scenario, they said that early indications show that the platform that was designed and built to hold the fireworks collapsed. “For some unknown reasons the structure that holds these ordinances collapsed and caused them to be firing into the crowd,” said Simi Valley police Cmdr. Stephanie Shannon. According to police commander Shannon, most people listened and calmly followed exiting instructions in an orderly fashion.