A Glenrock family's Fourth of July celebration ended in chaos when a firework exploded in the middle of a crowd of spectators, seriously injuring a young boy and prompting an emergency helicopter flight to a Denver hospital.
Now, the boy's family is pleading for witnesses to come forward as they search for answers about what happened.
"Accident or not, we want to know the truth” the boy’s mother, Katrina Pergande, said in a Sunday post shared to a Glenrock community Facebook page.
On Monday, the mother told Cowboy State Daily she also wants to make people more aware of how careless people can be when it comes to fireworks.
Pergande said her family was attending the annual Fourth of July fireworks celebration at the South Recreation Complex at around 9:30 p.m. Friday when a firework entered the area where they were gathered.
She said multiple members of her family, including herself and several of her children, suffered burns.
Bu her son Lavon sustained the most serious injuries after the firework struck his eye and exploded.
He was transported by ambulance from Glenrock to Casper before being airlifted to Children's Hospital Colorado in Denver, she said.
"His end of the Fourth was cut short and had to be rushed to the hospital," Pergande wrote.
In Glenrock, the town doesn’t put on an organized, professional fireworks show. Instead, the fire department holds a fireworks event at the ball fields allowing people to set off their own.
Admission is $10 per car with a cap at 400 cars. No alcohol is allowed as well.
Eyewitness Describes Chaos
John Rosenfeld of Casper, a former emergency medical technician who attended the event, said he was sitting on metal bleachers between two ball fields when he noticed something unusual.
"I saw it come across the ground," Rosenfeld said about observing the errant firework. "It came from the middle section of the left field, and I did see it explode in the middle of the crowd of people."
He said panic spread through the crowd almost immediately.
Rosenfeld described people running from the area while at least one person cried out. Before he could reach the scene, firefighters had already responded.
"Big props to the Glenrock Fire Department," he said. "They were there before even I could get up and do anything."
Rosenfeld said responders quickly removed the injured person from the area. At the time, he didn't realize that was a child.
"I asked a couple of people that were in the area if they were all right, and that seemed to be the only injury that I saw," he said, adding that, "I don't think anyone shot it at the group of people.
"I do think it was a complete accident that just happened to go that direction."
Family Seeking Witnesses
Pergande is asking anyone who attended the fireworks celebration and witnessed the incident — or captured photos or video — to contact the Glenrock Police Department or reach out to her directly.
She said her family had been seated on the left field near the second-to-last row of fireworks stands when the incident happened.
"With so many people at this event, I truly feel that someone saw this happen or knows something that can help us find the person responsible," she wrote.
In a later update, Pergande said Lavon was receiving steroid treatments every few hours while doctors worked to reduce inflammation that was preventing them from fully examining his eye.
She also reported on a GoFundMe campaign she started to help cover medical costs that Lavon suffered multiple injuries “and burns on his eyelid and had significant trauma to his actual eye."
She said physicians expect to determine whether surgery would be an option after additional evaluation.
"Our sweet boy was just enjoying his night, smiling and loving his time with his family," Pergande wrote.
Not Just 'Pretty Sparks'
Having responded to fireworks injuries during his career, Rosenfeld said incidents like this show how dangerous fireworks can be when they're not handled properly.
"A lot of people are not aware of fireworks," he said. "They think it's all just pretty sparks and don't really comprehend that it's an explosive device and can remove fingers and body parts.”
Cowboy State Daily reached out to the Glenrock Police Department and the Glenrock Volunteer Fire Department about the incident.
Personnel with the fire department confirmed both the police chief and fire chief had received a request for comment, but that they were unavailable prior to publication.
Kolby Fedore can be reached at kolby@cowboystatedaily.com.
