Fireworks lit up the night sky over Graf Park until a malfunction interrupted the pre-Fourth of July spectacle more than halfway through the show. Organizers called off the remainder of the fireworks celebration last week as a precaution. The malfunction occurred about 12 minutes into the planned 20-minute show.
“At this time, we do not have plans to reschedule the suspended fireworks show,” park district Executive Director Michael Benard wrote in an update to the Daily Herald. The park district hired to put on the show. The operator described the malfunction as an isolated incident, according to Benard.
They reported to us after their investigation that the malfunction was due to a manufacturer defect of the fireworks shell,” Benard explained. “RKM said that the malfunction caused what is known in the pyrotechnic world as a flower pot effect. A flower pot is caused by a shell bursting in the launch tube at the same instant the lift charge has fired.
” The Wheaton Fire Department was supervising the launch site and reported that personnel from the fireworks company immediately terminated the show once the malfunction occurred. “A ground fire ensued which resulted in other shells exploding on the ground, outside of the tubes. One shell, still in the tube, went off sending the shot towards the location of the crowd.
Thankfully, there were no reported injuries. Fire department personnel assisted the fireworks personnel with confirming all hazards were mitigated,” Be.
