There are bad ideas, and then there is whatever happened on Whidbey Island, Washington, this week. On Wednesday afternoon, a home in the quiet Lagoon Point neighborhood near Greenbank became ground zero for one of the more preventable disasters you’ll read about this year. Investigators believe someone was smoking near a very large stash of fireworks — roughly 700 pounds of them — stored inside the house. The result was, by any measure, spectacular in all the worst ways.
The blast occurred just before 4 p.m., and the explosions kept going for hours afterward. Debris was scattered hundreds of feet in every direction. Neighbors described windows shaking and pictures falling off their walls. At least one resident thought it was an earthquake. It wasn’t. It was a pallet’s worth of fireworks doing exactly what fireworks are designed to do — just not in the way anyone planned.
Three firefighters responding to what they initially believed was a routine house fire were injured in the explosion. The most serious case involved a firefighter who was standing roughly 20 feet from one of the blasts while trying to connect a hose to a hydrant. That firefighter sustained a hand injury requiring surgery and remained hospitalized at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. Two other firefighters were treated and released. The two residents from the home drove themselves to the hospital and are expected to recover.
The explosion destroyed two homes outright and damaged a third. Neighbor Tanya Hernandez-Garzon lost her home in the fire next door. She managed to get her five dogs and pet bird out in time, and spent that night sleeping in her truck. The blast blew open all of her doors and sent dishes and cabinet contents crashing to the floor throughout the house. As far as anyone can tell, the fireworks were not supposed to be there long-term.
Why Was There a Pallet of Fireworks in a House?
According to Island County Sheriff Rick Felici, investigators believe the fireworks had been ordered for an event somewhere on the Olympic Peninsula and were being temporarily staged at the home. That explanation might make the storage decision more understandable in theory, but it doesn’t make it less dangerous in practice.
Fire Chief Jerry Helm described the quantity as enough to fill a pallet — not exactly something you casually forget is sitting in the living room.
Neighbors Had Already Seen the Warning Signs
Neighbors say they had watched crates of fireworks being carried into the home in the days before the explosion and had previously complained about illegal burning in the backyard. One neighbor, Amy Tuthill, recalled telling the homeowner to stop burning toxic material just three days earlier.
The complaint apparently went unheeded. Fire Chief Helm was candid about how much worse it could have been: a difference of a second or two in the timing of the explosion, he said, and there would likely have been additional people hospitalized.
What Happens Next
Investigators from Central Whidbey Fire and Rescue and the Island County Sheriff’s Office were still working to determine exactly how many fireworks were stored at the property and what types were involved. Citations or criminal charges could follow depending on the findings.
No arrests had been made as of the latest reports. In the meantime, Central Whidbey Island Fire and Rescue launched a GoFundMe for the injured firefighters, and a separate fundraiser was set up for Tanya Hernandez-Garzon and her family.
With the Fourth of July less than two weeks away, the timing of this incident is a useful reminder that fireworks and enclosed spaces are a combination that ends only one way.