PARK TOWNSHIP, Mich. — A woman is dead and nine others are in the hospital after a firework exploded in Park Township Monday night.
Ottawa County deputies say it happened at a fireworks show on private property located on Main Street just west of N. 160th Avenue - a few blocks north of Ottawa Beach Rd.
A 43-year-old Holland woman was unresponsive when first responders arrived and, despite their efforts, died at the scene.
Nine others were hurt, with their injuries ranging from minor to critical.
Pictures from the scene show numerous fireworks on the ground and lawn chairs in the distance.
The incident also damaged several homes and vehicles. One vehicle's side window was completely shattered.
A neighbor shared a video with FOX 17 of the fireworks show prior to the deadly explosion.
Neighbor Shawn Manders was also lighting fireworks off Monday night, just one block over.
“We were kind of having a competition – see who could do it the most or the loudest, you know? We did them for a while,” said Manders.
Manders told FOX 17, “At the end, we heard a big, loud boom. We thought ‘something isn’t right.’”
Manders says he had a front-row seat to something he never wanted to watch.
“They were doing CPR on the lady, and a lot of other people were just laying around. It was real bad,” explained Manders.
Another neighbor told FOX 17 he heard the commotion throughout the night.
"We went back to bed at like 11 p.m. -- just heard, like, more fireworks, then you think it's done then you heard a big boom. And I was just lying in bed and thought I'm just gonna get up and look at the garage and then the back streets is just full of flashers," explained Kirk Garvelink, who lives nearby. “Then, I got up, like, around 3 o’clock to go to the bathroom and they were still out here. So, I knew something bad happened.”
The deadly firework explosion is still under investigation. Anyone with information is asked to call the Ottawa County Sheriff's Office or Silent Observer at 1-877-88-SILENT.
