(SitNews) Saxman, Alaska - A 12-year old boy was transported to PeaceHealth Ketchikan Medical Center for evaluation, then transported by Guardian Flight to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle for extensive injuries after a mortar-type firework exploded in his hand.

The Alaska State Troopers, the Saxman Village Public Safety Officer, and the South Tongass Fire Department responded to the report of an injured child in Saxman, last Thursday at approximately 7:12 PM.

Investigation revealed that a 12 year old boy was in a rock pit shooting off fireworks. According to information provided by the AST, the juvenile lit a mortar-type firework that is meant to be placed in a tube with an extended fuse prior to lighting, he was not using the tube but holding the firework in his hand prior to throwing it.

The mortar type firework was lit and thrown by the boy, hitting a rock wall and bouncing back toward him. The boy caught the firework in his right hand but before he could throw it again, it exploded. The juvenile sustained extensive injuries to his right hand according to an AST press release.

With a population of 411, Saxman is located on Revillagigedo Island in the Ketchikan Gateway Borough.

The City of Saxman and the City of Ketchikan both declined to transfer fireworks regulation powers to the Ketchikan Gateway Borough in July of 2015. The Borough’s power to regulate fireworks is currently limited to the nonareawide portion of the Borough, the area within the corporate boundaries of the Borough but outside the corporate limits of the City of Ketchikan and the City of Saxman. The City of Ketchikan allows the use and sale of fireworks within the boundaries of the City of Ketchikan under certain limits.

Edited by Mary Kauffman, SitNews

Source of News:

Alaska Department of Public Safety
www.dps.state.ak.us

 

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