Franklin Co. 4th of July fireworks canceled after explosion killed one, injured three
Franklin County announced Monday that it has canceled its annual Fourth of July fireworks event after the fireworks the county planned to use for the event were destroyed in an explosion earlier this month.
The explosion, which happened June 10, resulted from a “large brush fire” on a farm in La Grange, in Lenoir County, McClatchy News previously reported.
When firefighters arrived to the scene, they found the property owner, Randy Herring, trying to put out the blaze. Fire crews began working to extinguish the flames, which were spreading in the direction of a building containing the commercial-grade fireworks — but the fireworks detonated soon after, officials said.
Franklin County public information officer James Hicks told The News & Observer Monday that the county did not own the fireworks. They were being stored in the building by the fireworks vendor the county had contracted with to provide the fireworks display at the event, Hicks said.
Herring was injured in the explosion and died from his injuries at the scene. Three firefighters were also injured in the explosion and were taken to hospitals in Greenville and Chapel Hill to be treated.
“Franklin County is saddened by the loss of life from the fire in Lenoir County last week which resulted in several injuries to firefighters fighting a fire which also included the detonation of commercial-grade fireworks in a storage container,” Franklin County officials said in a release announcing the cancellation of the Fourth of July fireworks event.
“As a result of the destruction of the fireworks – which would have been used in this year’s celebration – and the lack of time to find replacements, the county will have to cancel this year’s Independence Day fireworks and accompanying festivities,” the announcement said.
The fireworks event would have been held on July 1, Hicks told The N&O. He said the event has been canceled the past two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and this would have been the first year the event was held since the pandemic began.
La Grange is about 70 miles southeast of Raleigh.
This story was originally published June 20, 2022 at 10:49 AM.
