Woman dead, 9 injured after fireworks explosion at home in Michigan

A woman is dead and nine other people are injured after fireworks exploded Monday night at a home in western Michigan, authorities said, as holiday pyrotechnics continue to send people to hospitals nationwide.

Deputies, firefighters and an ambulance responded just after 11 p.m. to the explosion in Park Township, the Ottawa County Sheriff’s Office said. Nine people were taken to local hospitals with “injuries ranging from minor to critical.” Another person — an unidentified 43-year-old woman — was found unresponsive. Life-saving measures were performed but she was pronounced dead at the scene.

Several area homes and vehicles were also damaged by the explosion, authorities said. Images posted by WOOD-TV show debris and fireworks scattered across a front lawn as well as a broken car windshield.

The cause of the incident remains under investigation.

The incident marks the latest in a flurry of fireworks-related injuries.

On Monday, three people were reportedly injured, one seriously, by a fireworks explosion on a homemade barge in New Jersey. A prosecutor is opening a criminal investigation into the incident, the Byram Township Police Department told CBS News.

On Sunday, a 58-year-old man in Illinois was critically injured when a commercial-grade firework exploded in his face. Also on Sunday, a man in Indiana was injured when a firework was “launched into his vehicle, exploding and causing injury.”

Almost 75% of all fireworks-related injuries in the U.S. last year happened during the month surrounding the Fourth of July, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said in late June. There were 11 reported fireworks-related deaths in 2022, mostly associated with mortar-style devices. Victims ranged in age from 11 to 43. There were also 10,200 fireworks-related injuries in 2022. 

Aliza Chasan contributed to this report.