Owner Confirms Worker Badly Hurt In Fireworks Plant Blast

SLATINGTON, Pa. (AP) — The owner of a Pennsylvania fireworks company says one worker has suffered a potentially life-threatening injury from an explosion.

Lehighvalleylive.com reports the worker received a hand injury in the blast about 7:20 a.m. Friday. Celebration Fireworks owner John Kemps says emergency workers said the injury could be life-threatening.

Kemps tells The (Allentown) Morning Call an electric match might have malfunctioned, causing the blast. The devices are attached to each firework shell and are used to ignite them.

Kemps says up to 15 employees work at the facility in Slatington, about 70 miles northwest of Philadelphia.

He says an investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives could affect the company's ability to fill Fourth of July orders.

The company serves customers in eastern Pennsylvania, Delaware and New Jersey.