LA GRANGE, N.C. — A brush fire on a North Carolina farm caused fireworks to explode inside a container where they were stored, killing one person and injuring three firefighters Friday, authorities said.
Lenoir County Emergency Services Director Murry Stroud told broadcast outlet WITN of Greenville that one person was confirmed dead from the afternoon blast and three firefighters were hurt, one of them in critical condition.
Stroud said firefighters were dispatched to put out a reported brush fire at a farm in La Grange as flames were approaching a building containing "commercial-grade fireworks." He said fields were being burned off when the fire spread and detonated the fireworks stored in a container.
The identities of those injured were not immediately released.
Lenoir County Emergency Services posted on Facebook that the property owner, who they identified as Randy Herring, was the person who died at the scene. The organization said Saturday that two of the three firefighters have been released from the hospital.
