Fireworks Mishap A Mystery

By KEITH MORELLI The Tampa Tribune

Published: Sep 5, 2007

TAMPA - Tampa Fire Rescue investigators were eager to talk to a pyrotechnics worker who was injured when a football game fireworks display ignited prematurely Saturday night. An interview with Joseph Castonguay is crucial in determining what went wrong, they say.

"He was a first-hand witness," fire-rescue Capt. Bill Wade said. "He'll have the best version of what happened."

The explosion, possibly caused by a static-electricity spark on the field of Raymond James Stadium, sent Castonguay, 28, to Tampa General Hospital for treatment of second- and third-degree burns on his face, arms and chest. Through a hospital spokeswoman, the injured man declined a request for an interview Tuesday.

Castonguay, an employee of Bell's Fireworks of Tampa, was in good condition at Tampa General on Tuesday, but that didn't mean his injuries weren't serious, Wade said.

Castonguay suffered severe burns to his face and his eyes, Wade said.

"Those fireworks were meant to go up 30 to 40 feet in the air," he said. "And they went off in his face."

Wade said the fire marshal's office will begin looking into the incident this week.

Home Opener Display Goes Wrong

Castonguay was setting up the display on the field about 7 p.m. just before the kickoff of the University of South Florida's home opener with Elon University. He was carrying a 1-by-2-foot tray of mines and crossettes, which shoot flaming balls and sparks into the air. As he set the tray down near the 40-yard line, about 30 yards from the stands, six of the 10 devices went off, officials said.

Last year, Castonguay was quoted in a Tampa Tribune article on the science behind fireworks.

He said at the time that professional pyrotechnics experts use high-grade metals and chemicals in exacting proportions and that poor-quality materials or carelessness can result in a disappointing show or, worse, a disastrous one.

"If you're off in your [chemical] ratio by just 1 percent, things might not work," Castonguay said in the interview published July 4, 2006. "It's a very precise science, and it can get really complicated."

Misfire Isn't 1st For Company

Bell's Fireworks is the same company that set up the Fourth of July display on St. Pete Beach. That display's finale misfired and exploded on the ground, injuring about a dozen people, including five Bell's Fireworks employees and damaging nearby buildings.

St. Pete Beach Fire & Rescue investigators said it appeared that a shell about the diameter of a baseball accidentally went off, setting off most of the shells remaining on the ground. The display went off without a hitch until that point, when the finale was about to be ignited.

The explosion sent wood shrapnel shooting skyward and across the beach, and the concussion shattered windows at the nearby Bon-Aire Resort Motel.

The investigation into that incident remains open, said Tom Malone, operations commander with St. Pete Beach Fire & Rescue . He said evidence, which included burned materials, was sent to the state fire marshal's lab, along with videos of the explosions

"They're still looking at it," he said.

Reporter Keith Morelli can be reached at kmorelli@tampatrib.com or (813) 259-7760.