Fireworks Badly Injure Lakewood Man On July 4th

LAKEWOOD, OH — A 49-year-old Lakewood man suffered severe injuries to his left hand and right leg after a fireworks accident at a residence on Tuesday night. Callers reported that the man's leg was "shredded" in police calls. (Subscribe to the Patch Lakewood newsletter for local news and updates.)

Police were called to a residence in the area of 15600 Lake Ave. and arrived to find the man severely injured. The 49-year-old was transported to MetroHealth for treatment. He is in stable condition.

Kate Ryback and her family, including two of her daughters, were across the street, on Lake Avenue near Summit, when the explosion occurred. The group had set up camp on an empty portion of the street, across from the residence, and were watching fireworks when a massive explosion, unlike anything they had ever heard, Ryback says, rocked them from their seats.

The family basset hound dove beneath lawn chairs, and Ryback saw a flame blossom out at ground level from directly across the street.

"Nothing I've ever encountered was this loud," she told Patch. "We covered our heads with our hands, and then we saw a flame. It wasn't going up. It looked like it was coming right at us."

After a moment of calm, Ryback's mother was furious, screaming that the explosion could have reached the family. Ryback grabbed her 7-year-old and 12-year-old and started to hustle down the street, afraid of another explosion.

As they moved away from the scene, a man came out and asked them to call 911, saying someone had been severely hurt in the blast. Ryback's husband went to the scene and thought the man had died before his chest started moving up and down.

Police then arrived at the scene and cordoned off the area, taping off the spot where Ryback and her family had been sitting. The whole incident terrified Ryback, whose 17-year-old daughter had been at the park during the explosion on Lake.

"My daughter could have come back from the parade to God knows what tragedy…her whole family could have been gone…including her grandmother and sisters," she said, audibly shaken.

Ryback said she plans to write to city council about the incident and will be at any court hearings related to the explosion.

"This was absolutely atrocious. I will be at court hearings telling this story," she said. "These things go off so fast. I’m glad this man survived, but no one has any business having these explosives anywhere in the city."

Lakewood Police told Patch the incident is still under investigation.

A 911 call from the incident can be heard below.

Photo from Vince Frantz