A Fourth of July celebration in Southern California turned tragic for two teenagers after an illegal firework exploded in their hands, causing severe injuries and prompting an urgent warning from one of their mothers.
Maria Escalante, the mother of twin boys, told CBS News that her son and a friend ignited an illegal firework they had found on the street in Anaheim. Moments later, she said, it detonated while they were holding it.
Escalante said her son lost multiple fingers on his right hand and remains hospitalized, with both of his hands heavily bandaged.
His twin brother, who saw the explosion happen, has also been deeply shaken by the incident, she said.
“He’s not doing good. He’s going to be in the hospital for about two months. His hands are literally butchered,” Escalante told CBS.
The heartbroken mother said doctors are planning reconstructive surgery, but there is still a chance her son could lose more fingers if blood flow cannot be restored to those that remain.
“They’re going to do their best to reconstruct his hands, but they can’t guarantee nothing. … They’re going to see if he has proper circulation going to the last fingers he has, to the few fingers he has left in his hand,” she told the news outlet.
Escalante later returned to the scene on South Mountain View, where she said she found remnants of the illegal firework. She is now calling on the Anaheim Police Department to investigate how the pyrotechnic ended up in the area.
“His [the other teen’s] mother told me that every year they sell illegal fireworks here, so I don’t know if the Anaheim Police Department knows about this or not, but they need to start investigating,” she said. She added the other boy’s hands were also badly injured.
Illegal fireworks continue to pose a severe safety threat throughout California.
According to 2023 data from the California Department of Public Health, fireworks incidents led to 718 emergency department visits and 200 nonfatal hospitalizations across the state.
Last month, The California Post reported that banned fireworks are steadily streaming into the Golden State from Nevada, where a dozen retailers are seeing a substantial influx of California buyers seeking to evade local bans.
The devastating consequences of these explosives were seen at a Fourth of July party last year, when an 8-year-old girl lost her life after a man ignited an illegal $400 cake packed with professional-grade explosives that ultimately malfunctioned.
