Sparkler Burns Send Glen Burnie Girl To Hospital: Fire Department

GLEN BURNIE, MD — An 11-year-old Glen Burnie girl was burned on July 4 by a sparkler lit by another child, Anne Arundel County Fire officials say. The girl suffered second-degree burns to her right wrist and abdomen.

Fire investigators were called to Baltimore Washington Medical Center early Thursday to look into the circumstances around the burn victim in the emergency department. Investigators determined that the girl's parents had purchased legal sparklers from a fireworks stand in the Glen Burnie area. Around 11 p.m., another child lit a device, close to the girl, which resulted in the burns.

The incident is the second reported fireworks mishap in the county from the holiday. A mortar tube with illegal fireworks blew up as a man held it at a Millersville party Tuesday night, causing "catastrophic injuries" to both of his hands, according to the Anne Arundel County Fire Department.

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The victim is a 21-year-old man who was taken to the Curtis National Hand Center at Medstar Union Memorial Hospital in Baltimore with critical injuries that are not believed to be life-threatening.

The injured man attended a large outdoor party, and several of those attending brought illegal fireworks which had been purchased in Pennsylvania. Investigators say the victim held a mortar tube in one hand and dropped a lit mortar into the tube with the other hand. The mortar was upside down, and the explosion within the tube caused catastrophic injuries to both of his hands.

There were no other injuries, and no criminal charges were filed.

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