Detroit meteorologist loses eye in fireworks accident

[magnetic pyro]

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/2014/07/07/dave-rexroth-injured-in-iowa-fireworks-accident/12285441/

[Playingwithfire85]

On our local news here he was on talking about the incident. He wouldn't say much as to what happened but he did acknowledge that the incident happened because he was doing something he shouldn't. They way it sounds it seems like he was trying to relight a firework that failed. Sad story though. It's a huge hit to his life and career.

[PGH_Pyro]

yes i was going to add that he pretty much admitted that he was being careless/foolish ( probably drunk ...) and it's his fault ...
i hope the anti-fireworks people will be fair and include that in their anti-pyro propaganda stories that will inevitably come to the surface.

[displayfireworks1]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2zsCyAjpnE
http://media2.wxyz.com/photo/2014/07/10/Dave%20Rexroth%20injury%20900x675%20full_140500676 3509_6751443_ver1.0_640_480.jpg

[PGH_Pyro]

sucks that he will probably not have a future in TV, after this .

[displayfireworks1]

When I cover some of the fireworks accidents on pyrotalk, I try to find outcomes. Are their any members in Detroit that can give more information on this one. It looks Thursday they will talk about it one the Detroit news.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOn8wByAs6Q

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BbZN_MdIRTE

[mguerra]

In 25 years of Ophthalmology practice, I have only seen two fireworks eye injuries. One in 1990 and one this year. The guy in '90 was drunk, leaned over a "dud" missile, and it launched straight in to his eye. It blinded that eye. This year a young girl was at a park and someone else's mortar tipped over and shot something in her eye, probably not a star. She recovered 100%. Pretty good for a state where you can shoot 365 days a year and all products are allowed. I see far more eye injuries from people doing yard work... Which no one seems to want to ban.

[MIpyro]

Yeah, I will be watching this. He seems to have recovered fine, its just weird watching him do the weather now because all I can do is focus on that eye and know what happened. Hopefully he talks about what really happened and not blame fireworks for his eye loss. Even common sense would tell you to not look over anything that has/has not shot off unless you have the proper safety gear on.

[mguerra]

When I was taking some training they told us to wait for some time to check and clear the cakes and the guns, 15 to 30 minutes. I have to say, as an untrained 1.4 consumer, I might not have thought about that. I would think the average Joe might wait about a minute or two, not realizing how long a hang fire can smolder. I don't know what happened to this guy, hope to find out tonight.

[PGH_Pyro]

i know of a cop that wanted to scope out what some techs were doing one time and leaned over a gun/tube and was beheaded by I think a 4" shell. that would be quite a gruesome mess.

[MIpyro]

i know of a cop that wanted to scope out what some techs were doing one time and leaned over a gun/tube and was beheaded by I think a 4" shell. that would be quite a gruesome mess.

whoa!!!! I wouldn't know how to handle that situation. That's insane!

[mguerra]

Well I just watched the news report live and the meteorologist did not say exactly what happened or how it happened so we can't benefit from that information. But it was a pretty emotional personal story and really makes us think about how careful we need to be every single time.

[MIpyro]

Yeah, I just watched it too and not too much info on what happened. pretty emotional like mguerra stated. That's why I bought a Cobra as my wife was getting on me hand lighting fireworks. When things don't fire I always wait 10-15 minutes before going up to it, besides I can actually sit back and enjoy my own show.

[mguerra]

I was talking to an average Joe last night. They were stunned and couldn't believe you need to wait so long to check on a hang fire, or a "dud" as a non-pyro would call it. This is NOT common knowledge for your average fireworks consumer. As pyro enthusiasts we need to spread the word on this one.

[displayfireworks1]

Toward the end of this video, he mentions he was not wearing eye protection. Also a "Mortar" was mentioned, My guess is it was not an artillery shell.
The video is not an investigative video. I am never sure if it is good or bad when high profile people are injured with fireworks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsKk9PUSjak

[mguerra]

I'm pretty sure it was a cake. He named it. He said it was "Super Cell" or "Thunderstorm" and he used it as the finale because of the weather related name.

[mguerra]

Here it is:

http://youtu.be/naZ2mfdicjY

[mguerra]

If you listen to his wife, she describes what sounds like one shell of the cake striking him and ricochetting off to the side.

[Dion]

Really glad he is doing better. It really sucks that he wasn't wearing safety glasses!