In this Thursday, July 4, 2013, photo, victims are treated by medical personnel and volunteers at Ranch Santa Susana Community Park in Simi Valley, Calif. A number of people were injured due to a fireworks related accident during the annual Fourth of July celebration. (AP Photo/The Ventura County Star,Wendy Pierro)SIMI VALLEY, Calif. – As many as 10,000 Fourth of July revelers were just settling into their seats for the fireworks show at a Simi Valley park when a bright plume of red and white bursts spread across the ground, injuring more than 30 people and sending others fleeing for safety.
Police in the city northwest of Los Angeles were still investigating what caused Thursday night’s explosion. They said the cause was still unknown, although they had earlier indicated it appeared a firework detonated prematurely in its mortar, knocking over a row of others.
A view of the scene from a distance Friday morning showed groups of mortars held vertically in box-like wooden structures sitting on the ground. In front of them, a number of mortar tubes lay horizontally scattered on the ground. Cellphone videos captured fireworks exploding in spheres of sparks close to the ground, with smoke and people screaming.
The victims ranged in age from 8 to 78 years old, Sgt. Tom Meyer said. A total of 20 people were taken by ambulance to area hospitals. Four suffered serious, but not life-threatening, injuries.
One police officer who ran into the crowd when the blasts occurred had shrapnel tear through his leather belt and his clothing, Shannon said. He had minor injuries to his back.