A Lehigh County fireworks company was fined nearly $15,000 by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Heath Administration after an explosion in June that caused an employee to lose parts of both hands, a summary of violations says.
Celebration Fireworks Inc., 7911 Seventh St. in Washington Township, was initially fined more than $21,000 on Nov. 14 for three violations that were broken into 10 corrective actions, OSHA said. An informal settlement, reached Dec. 8, lowered that number to $14,831, records show.
The inspection isn't closed, since some of the corrective actions have completion dates that stretch into January, records show.
The female victim was never identified, but the OSHA paperwork says she was inserting a match fuse into a fireworks charge between 7 and 7:30 a.m. June 30.
Fireworks blast results in severe injury
"The fireworks exploded and both of the employee's hands were amputated," according to the OSHA paperwork. But company President John Kemps on Friday said she lost the pinky finger on her right hand and all the fingers on her left.
The woman remains in the hospital but should be released soon, Kemps said.
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Blast at fireworks company results in severe hand injury
Updated Jun 30, 2017; Posted Jun 30, 2017
Workers prepare fuses among a sea of launch tubes July 2, 2014, at Celebration Fireworks in the Slatington area. (lehighvallleylive.com file photo)() By Tony Rhodin
A woman suffered a severe hand injury in an explosion Friday morning at a fireworks business in Washington Township, Lehigh County, authorities say.
A county dispatcher confirmed the blast happened about 7:20 a.m. at Celebration Fireworks Inc., 7911 Seventh St.
A fire was quickly put out and dispatches indicated there was more than one explosion.
The dispatcher wouldn't speak to the woman's medical condition.
Pennsylvania State Police at Bethlehem, who patrol that area, didn't respond, a trooper there said. A dispatch said the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives was involved.
Northern Valley EMS was on-scene, the dispatcher said, to treat the woman.
The U.S. Occupational Heath and Safety Administration responded, a spokeswoman said. OSHA investigates worker-related injuries.
OSHA opened an investigation and has six months to perform the probe and release its findings, the spokeswoman said. She wouldn't elaborate on the incident.
The Allentown Fire Department's bomb squad was also called in, an official said.
Celebration Fireworks is a "fireworks display company" that specializes in shows that sync with music, its website says. No one answered the phone there Friday morning.
The owner of the business spoke with the Morning Call, saying the woman's injuries were life-threatening and he believed the explosion was sparked by an electric match, normally used to set off fireworks. He told the newspaper it was the first such accident there since the company opened in 2001.