BRONSON, MI (WTVB) – A Bronson business owner along with three other persons were burned Sunday night in a fireworks explosion at the Gilead Lake public access site.
Smitty’s Pizza owner Eric Smith was the most seriously burned. He was initially taken to Parkview Regional Medical Center in Fort Wayne before being transferred to Bronson Methodist Hospital in Kalamazoo.
Gilead Lake Association President Rick Chard says two other men were also taken to Parkview with burns to their legs and back. A fourth person was also burned but not as badly as the other three.
Bronson Fire Chief Scott Wilber says six people were on a pontoon boat setting off fireworks when a spark went into a bucket of mortar round type fireworks causing an explosion which blew people off the pontoon.
There were apparently no injuries in the large crowd which had gathered at the public access to view the fireworks.
The fireworks accident which took place on Gilead Lake Sunday night was part of a show that Smith and helpers put on every year and is looked forward to by residents in the southwestern part of Branch County and northwestern Steuben County.
It is made possible thanks to donations by nearby residents.
This summer’s newsletter from the Gilead Lake Association said the display grows each year in size and cost and that any donation would have been greatly appreciated.
Besides the Bronson Fire Department and Lifecare Ambulance, the Michigan State Police, the Branch Count Sheriff’s Department Marine Patrol and a Michigan Department of Natural Resources. Conservation Officer also responded to the explosion.
