Fireworks tech injured during Cumming event

CUMMING - A worker assisting with a professional fireworks show in Cumming Tuesday night was injured when a mortar exploded next to him.

Forsyth County Fire Capt. Jason Shivers said the worker, described only as an adult male,received traumatic injuries to his face, arms and hands, but he said the injuries are not believed to be life-threatening.

Shivers said emergency workers were on call at the event, so they got to the patient quickly.

"We had a brush truck and a fire crew immediately adjacent to the area where they were shooting the fireworks from," said Shivers. "When the accident occurred, they saw it happen."

Shivers confirmed that the man had at one time worked as a volunteer firefighter in the county, but he said he had not served in that capacity in a number of years.

Shivers said the accident happened around 9:40 p.m. at the Cumming Fairgrounds where the city of Cumming sponsors the fireworks display each Fourth of July.

Shivers noted that he has worked for the Forsyth County Fire Department for 15 years and, in his memory, a professional pyrotechnician has never been injured in an event in the county or the city of Cumming.