Typical nightime explosion from a neighborhood fireworks show in Lawrence. (Photo by J. Schafer)
LANSING, Kan. (AP) — A northeast Kansas park is closed while police investigate the explosion-related death of a man who was helping clean up after a community fireworks show. Authorities say the 44-year-old Lansing man was a volunteer at Wednesday night's Fourth of July fireworks display at Kenneth W. Bernard Community Park. Lansing police said he and others were disposing of fireworks that had not discharged when one of the devices exploded near him. A crowd of about 3,500 people who attended the show had already left the park when the man was killed. The death is being investigated as an accident.
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Fireworks-Related Blazes Claim Multiple Homes in Kansas
EMPORIA, Kan. (AP) — The toll from fires blamed on Fourth of July fireworks is adding up around Kansas. In Hutchinson, authorities estimate the damage at $600,000 from a fire that left a home in ruins and killed a couple's two dogs. Investigators say Thursday's pre-dawn blaze apparently began when fireworks landed on the roof from somewhere in the neighborhood. Fireworks are also suspected in several house fires in the Wichita area. Even spent fireworks can spark a blaze. WIBW-TV reports a house in Emporia went up in flames Thursday when two children put a couple of spent sparklers in the ground. The sparklers ignited dry grass under the front porch, starting a fire that spread quickly. No one was injured.