The 13 Most Horrible Firework Accidents

Enschede, Holland has a problem. First off, no one I've spoken to has a clue how to pronounce the name of the town. Secondly, someone thought stockpiling more fireworks than Wil E. Coyote was a good idea.



23 people tragically died, but that's what happens when your town has a building labeled Firework Depot.



In May of 2000, a small fire led to two massive explosions at the SE Fireworks Depot in Enschede, Holland, leaving 23 people dead, including 4 firemen. 947 people were injured and an estimated 2,000 homes were damaged or destroyed, leaving over 1250 people homeless. And at least one animated character without the means necessary to catch himself a road runner.



The residents didn't even know that there was a fireworks factory located next to their homes (they thought it was a depot from the beer factory). Since Beer smells so much like gun powder, right?

A fireworks truck (that's right, more REALLY intelligent upkeep of fireworks going on here, people) exploded, killing 2 workers and hurting 3 others as they prepared for the 4th of July fireworks display on the Ocracoke docks.



Witnesses say the blast could be heard across town and the Associated Press quoted some random person with absolutely no expertise in the field who said that it sounded like "40 minutes of fireworks went off in 40 seconds".



Unfortunately, further commentary from this master of all things firework could not be obtained.

Amateur and Fireworks are two words you never want to hear together. Unless you own stock in America's Funniest Home Videos (Is that possible? Can you buy stock in a tv show?).



$3,000 worth of fireworks blew up in the 2 car garage of a man who wears American flag bandanas (F**K YEAH). His brother in law, was apparently the guy who set the whole thing off.



I imagine the scenario going down something like this:



"Hey Bob, where should I put these fire works. Awesome Flag bandana by the way."



"Thanks, the bandana matches the underoos. Put 'em down anywhere but on the water heater."



"Gotcha, on the water heater it is."



The homeowners somehow escaped unhurt, but face possible felony charges. Apparently they've been doing this display for the 4th of July every year for "many, many years".



Scroll to 01:21 in the video, for a local neighbor's reaction who had no idea that this many fireworks were being kept near her. According to the woman she either thought it was a small engine going out... or a plane. Really? A small engine... or a PLANE? Not sure what kind of car this woman drives, but you better stay the hell away from whatever kind of engine she has in it.

During a celebration, a large group of fireworks (see video) were gathered on the floor by a group of awesome parents, all the wicks of each explosive being at just about "child-height" level.

After they did this, they set their children (toddlers and the like) to play free in the yard with these fireworks unguarded.

The next course of action: give these children sparklers.

NOBODY could have seen this coming, but a sparkler apparently lit one of the fireworks and they all went off, leaving 5 children and 2 adults injured. This includes a 2 year old girl, who was burned.

"YOU light 'em!"

"No way, YOU light 'em!"

"I lit them last time!"

"Guys, wait. I have an idea..."

I've always been curious about who works at a fireworks factory. I always picture coal miners with soot covered faces.



In the sleepy town of Wallerawang, a fireworks factory exploded leaving 4 million dollars in structural damages, including broken glass windows, ripped up roof tiles, and doors blown off the hinges that were reported from as far away from the blast as 30km (or 18 and a half miles). And who knows how many soot covered fireworks engineers are out of work thanks to this.



Luckily, no one was injured.



What a great way to celebrate the company's 85th anniversary (and probably this factory's last).



It's safe to say, though, that at least the factory went out with a bang.







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