BRISTOL — The fireworks display that was to cap off a week of inauguration events for Roger Williams University president, Donald J. Farish, was cut short after one of the pyrotechnics malfunctioned, causing a series of ground level explosions.
The mishap occurred around 7:50 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 15, shortly after the display began. State fire marshal, John Chartier, described the incident as “a malfunction in one of the tubes that triggered a small chain reaction” with adjacent tubes.
“It failed to shoot off in the air,” the state fire marshal said. “Instead of shooting up, it shot off horizontally.”
Approximately 400 devices were prepared to be ignited electronically for the scheduled 20 minute display. The malfunction occurred after only 25 or 30 were set off.
“They had done everything by the book,” he said of the company’s set up, suspecting a manufacturer’s defect as the cause of the mishap.
The errant explosives were confined to a cordoned off area and no injuries were reported.
Brian Clark, the university’s executive director of public affairs, said the company, Atlas Pyrotechnics, of Nashua, N.H., performed fireworks displays for their events in the past. This was the first time an incident such as this happened on campus. The fireworks display, which was postponed from Friday due to weather, was aborted after the incident with no plans to reschedule.
The state fire marshal said that safety regulations require firefighters to be stationed near fireworks detonation areas. Bristol Fire Chief Robert Martin said that fire crews were on site.
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