Taunton Reminds Residents 'Leave Fireworks Displays To The Professionals' After Deck Fire

TAUNTON (CBS) – Police and firefighters are reminding residents to leave Fourth of July fireworks to the professionals after a Taunton resident injured himself and started a fire Tuesday while setting up his home pyrotechnics.

The fire started just before 6 p.m. on Middleboro Ave. When firefighters arrived they found a 24-year-old man extinguishing flames on his deck.

The man was building wooden racks to hold plastic mortar tubes for fireworks. During construction, a spark from a power tool ignited one of them, which then caused several others to light.

"I could see them. It was one after the other it was like a grand finale," neighbor Jennifer Donovan said.

As the fireworks went off, they lit the home's siding on fire. Flames did not spread inside the house.

The man suffered burns on his hands, but did not require medical assistance.

Taunton Police reminded residents that the sale and possession of fireworks is illegal in Massachusetts.

"Thankfully this resident was not seriously injured and the fire did not extend into the home," Taunton Fire Chief Timothy Bradshaw said. "This situation is exactly why residents are required by law to leave fireworks displays to the professionals. With the holiday tomorrow, we remind everyone to please celebrate responsibly."

As he continued to pick up firework debris in his yard on Wednesday, neighbor Bob Eckert didn't know what to make of the Tuesday night blast.

"I ran up to the garage and looked and saw black billowing smoke here and fire on the porch like the deck was on fire," he said.

As Eckert ran inside to call 911, some of the neighborhood kids watched their 24-year-old neighbor try to put out the fire on his own with a hose.

"They went up front and they were spraying the whole house down with water," neighbor Thomas Donavan said.