A fireworks shooter was hospitalized Saturday night after his hand was injured while setting off fireworks during the Darlington Independence Day Celebration, according to the Office of the State Fire Marshal.
Larry Mays, 44, an employee of Fireworks Extravaganza, and his co-workers were setting off fireworks in Francis Silver Park when a 3-inch shell "discharged at an incorrect angle" and struck his left hand, causing a "partial amputation" of his ring finger, according to a news release from the Fire Marshal's Office.
A deputy state fire marshal on site responded at 9:36 p.m. after being alerted by Mays' co-workers, according to the news release.
He was taken by Darlington Volunteer Fire Company ambulance to MedStar Union Memorial Hospital in Baltimore, where he was in stable condition, according to the release, which was issued shortly before midnight.
Fire Marshal's Office investigators inspected the fireworks rack and determined it was secured in accordance with codes, and the tube from where the shell was fired was "intact and exhibited no signs of failure," according to the news release.
The Fire Marshal's Office Bomb Squad processes and approves permits for fireworks displays throughout Maryland, and each site is inspected days before the event and the day of the event by either fire marshals or local inspectors, according to the release.