My Most Memorable 4th of July: Fireworks Disaster

The year was 1988, it was a warm 4th with lots of activity going on in my home town, Duluth Minnesota. The Twin Ports is the largest shipping port on Lake Superior, and a hot spot of tourist activity in the summer months.

Our family makes it an annual event, the all day festival with music, arts and crafts vendors, and of course the variety of food concessions. Much of the cities population and plenty of visitors from around the area where concentrated around the Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center down by the harbor. Finding a good spot on the grassy field in front of the Grand Stand, where the music kept the audience hopping, got harder as the evenings events continued.

It's a ritual in Duluth, the fireworks are scheduled to start promptly at 10:00PM. The closer it got to the magic hour, the more the people crowded into the field by the stage.

The harbor is a series of boat slips, where ore carriers would position themselves for unloading limestone. On the strip of land between two slips, about 200' from the edge of the grassy spectator field, is where the fireworks had been assembled. This is no small show, back then it amounted to $40,000 of high explosives. Always handled by professional companies that were responsible for the show going off on schedule and safely. This year things would be a little different.

With the music playing grandly, the 10'oclock hour arrived. Right on queue the fireworks started. After about a minute of high flying sparkles with plenty of oohs and aaws, suddenly all hell broke loose, the remaining $39,900 worth of fireworks ignited all at once.

Rockets and explosions, all headed directly toward the crowded field, just a short distance across the watery boat anchorage. It lasted for about five minutes, people ran in panic fearing for their lives. The four of us got away from danger without injury, it was the first time our two teenage daughters were glad to hold our hand as we ran for cover.

When it was all said and done, a few people suffered minor burns from falling fireworks, but no one was hospitalized and there was no significant damage. It sure was a fireworks display to remember.