Maine man dies in fireworks explosion

Sun, 10/08/2017 - 8:45pm

    The Maine State Fire Marshal's Office says a man died Oct. 8 after a fireworks shell he lit exploded in Sabattus.

    Timothy Whitney, Sr.,, 57, of Lewiston died shortly after arrival at Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston.

    Fire Investigators say Whitney lit a commercial type fireworks shell, which was set into a cement cinder block outside his son's home on Meadow Lane in Sabattus at approximately 2 p.m. The fireworks exploded in the cinder block, sending pieces of it into two homes, 140 feet away.

    Whitney was standing only 15 feet away when several pieces of cement struck him.

    He had obtained the fireworks sometime in the past year and were the type only available to licensed fireworks operators, which he was not.

    Three other family members, standing 80 to 90 feet off, were not injured. The last fireworks death in Maine was in July of 2015 in Calais.