Fireworks in Ocean City, Md., have been canceled after a pyrotechnic display set up on the city’s beachfront accidentally exploded.
The Ocean City Fire Department shared a press release on its Facebook page stating it was alerted to a “vehicle fire.”
“[F]irefighters arrived to find that no vehicle was on fire; however, there was an unintentional discharge of fireworks that were being set up on the beach for the Town's fireworks show.”
Employees of the fireworks company sustained minor injuries and refused transport to the hospital by Ocean City Paramedics, while no other bystanders were injured, the Facebook post continued.
"[O]ur Fire Marshals are on the scene and will investigate the cause of the unintentional discharge," Ocean City Fire Chief Richie Bowers said in the post. "Prior to the fireworks being off loaded from the vehicle, Fire Marshals secure a safe zone around the fireworks and put other safety protocols in place. It is this very zone and safety protocols that kept anyone else from being injured.”
The department released another statement approximately an hour later saying that “[D]ue to an abundance of caution, all firework shows in Ocean City have been canceled,” and that the perimeter placed around the site “will remain in place until the safety inspections are complete, which take several days.”
The statement also said that areas of the Boardwalk have been closed to pedestrian traffic “until a thorough safety inspection has been completed.”