Scottown -- Ohio+
FireWorks Incident Turns Deadly In Ohio

What is being described as an "act of extreme stupidity" that may have started out as a "prank" has apparently turned deadly today in Scottown, Ohio. Eight people are reported dead and another twelve injured, including at least two small children. Three people are still reported in critical condition, with smoke inhalation and burns, at nearby Cabell Huntington Hospital, according to a hospital spokesperson.

Lawrence County Sheriff Roy Smith, says that he believes that the tragedy in the fireworks store was the work of three men in their early 20's, who allegedly lit a fire in a box of fireworks in the back of Ohio River Fireworks building. The three youths, who have not been identified or charged, are reportedly in custody at the Lawrence County jail.

Most of the bodies of the victims were reportedly found near the front door of the retail fireworks store. Fire and police investigators hypothesized that they were killed in a "stampede" as they all scrambled to exit the building, with multiple explosions going off.

Fire department sources said that the fire took almost three hours to bring under control and that there may still be bodies inside. They say that after initial extinguishment that they were waiting for the interior to cool off before a more extensive search could be undertaken. The entire incident remains under investigation by Sheriff's deputies and fire/arson personnel.

 

Scottown -- Ohio+
Man arrested in fireworks store fire
that kills 8

1996 -- A fireworks store bustling with Fourth of July shoppers burst into flames Wednesday, killing at least eight people, including three children, as they rushed for the front door. Twelve other people were injured.

Witnesses said someone started the blaze by setting off fireworks inside the store with a cigarette or a lighter. Police charged 24-year-old Todd Hall of Proctorville, Ohio, with eight counts of voluntary manslaughter. Two other men also may have been involved.

"I believe that two of them put the third one up to it. It appears that it was a joke turned deadly," Lawrence County Sheriff Roy Smith said. "They just wanted a little excitement. They just got a lot more than they wanted."

Bottle rockets whizzed, strings of firecrackers exploded and smoke filled the cinder block Ohio River Fireworks building as about 40 people scrambled for safety, witnesses said. It took firefighters two hours to control the blaze.

All of the dead were found within 5 feet of the door, Smith said. Workers were sifting through the rubble of the destroyed shop for more possible victims.

The festive sounds of fireworks going off contrasted bleakly with searchers lifting burn victims out on stretchers, and hinted at the dangers searchers faced as they picked through the debris.

"We couldn't go inside the building until we watered it down. It was two hours. There were fireworks going off," said assistant volunteer fire chief Freddie Burcham.

Five of the injured were in critical condition at Cabell Huntington Hospital in Huntington, West Virginia. Whether they were employees of the fireworks store or customers was not immediately known.

Although large fireworks can only legally be sold in Ohio for use outside the state, the Ohio River Fireworks was licensed to sell fireworks, officials said. The store was located near the Ohio River, which is a state line.

 

State may be liable in fireworks deaths

-- The state of Ohio can be held liable for the deaths of nine people killed in a 1996 fire at a Lawrence County, Ohio, fireworks store, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled Wednesday.

In a 4-3 vote, the Supreme Court ruled that the state fire marshal is not protected as a government entity from being sued for negligence when carrying out a public duty.

The decision does not mean the state is immediately liable for the deaths at Ohio River Fireworks in Scottown, Ohio, on July 3, 1996. But it means the state can no longer use Ohio’s public duty doctrine as a defense.   Justice Deborah Cook, writing for the majority, said the Ohio Court of Claims must apply the same legal principles whether a defendant is a private or public individual or institution.

Because of that, allowing the state to use a defense in the Court of Claims only available to public entities would constitute "spurious logic," Cook wrote.

Justice Alice Robie Resnick dissented, saying the public duty doctrine is necessary to prevent governments from being overwhelmed by lawsuits.

A lawyer for family members of the nine killed in the fire, said the ruling will give his clients the hearing they deserve.

The justices "have in essence said the public duty doctrine is dead. "  "We have to look at each case on its facts and its merits."   A message was left with Attorney General’s office seeking    comment.

Lawyers for the families argued that the fire marshal’s office, conducting an undercover operation of illegal fireworks at the store three days before the fire, discovered the sprinkler system had been disabled but did nothing. Attorneys for the state argued that the families have never proved the store was violating safety regulations or that the sprinkler system was disabled the day of the fire. They also say the families didn’t prove they relied on the fire marshal to protect them.

A man, whose 14-year-old son was killed in the blaze, said he was happy with the court’s ruling.

"The state has taken too many things for granted," said one of several relatives of the victims who is suing the Ohio Department of Commerce’s fire marshal division. "A lot of times I think that if the state would have just closed the store up like they should have, this accident would have never happened."

A former Proctorville area resident, allegedly tossed a lit cigarette onto a shelf of fireworks inside Ohio River Fireworks, which was crowded with unsuspecting holiday shoppers. Estimates vary, but most agree 30 to 40 people were inside the store.

Some witnesses say the boy  who suffered a brain injury in a skateboarding accident when he was a child, was coaxed by three companions into playing a joke with the cigarette.

In a matter of seconds, the building, located about nine miles north of Proctorville, was engulfed with smoke and flames as customers searched for the only way out -- a 3 1/2-foot-wide front door.

The man,  who was in the fireworks store, said it will always be difficult to recall the tragic day and cope with the loss of his son, who would have been 21-years-old this year.   "I have good and bad days," he said. "I try to keep busy so I don’t think about it that much."

But when he does think about the accident, he wonders what the future would have held for his son, he said.   "Would he finish high school? Would he have gone on to Duke University? He always loved Duke basketball, and wanted to go to school there."

The boy  was arrested the day of the fire and charged with eight counts of involuntary manslaughter. A ninth victim died later. He was deemed incompetent to stand trial and is currently confined to a state psychiatric hospital in Athens, Ohio.    A Lawrence County Common Pleas Court judge ruled in March that he needs to remain there for up to two more years.

The owner of the Fireworks store had his fireworks license revoked shortly after the fire. Two years ago, he was caught selling fireworks and was sentenced to five months in jail.  An additional six months were added to his sentence because he didn’t show up at the jail on time to begin serving the first sentence.   He was released early from the jail in July 2001 for health reasons.