Minor injuries reported at Freedom Fest
Seven people attending Freedom Fest at Fort Rucker Friday night received minor injuries after fireworks malfunctioned during the grand finale and shot off across the street into a parking lot.
“What it appears happened, there was a malfunction with the pyrotechnics at the very end during the climax,” said Fort Rucker Public Affairs Officer Lisa Eichhorn. “Approximately seven people were treated with very, very, very minor injuries. Nobody was transported to the hospital.”
Eichhorn said the victims received minor burns but all refused treatment. One or two, she said, were given a Band-Aid.
One person who was standing closest to the fireworks was transported to a local hospital for a heat injury, however. That person was not burned.
Eichhorn said the malfunction occurred around 9:20 p.m. in a remote area; most fans would not have know that anything happened, other than the fact that they might have seen some fireworks stayed close to ground level.
“When it apparently misfired or whatever – I’m not going to speculate – the emergency responders were already there. It was immediate.”
Military police are investigating the incident, Eichhorn said, as the Army wants to be sure something like this does not happen again.
“Overall Freedom Fest was a great success for us. We are going to make sure whatever we can fix, we will. We are very saddened that there is even a minor injury. That is unacceptable,” she said. “We are very safety conscious and want to be sure this doesn’t happen again.”
Several thousand attended this year’s event, as Eichhorn called it the largest crowd in five years. This year the event was relocated to a larger field on post and more vendors were added.
“It was absolutely packed,” she said.
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Reader Reactions
This was not my first Freedom Fest at Ft. Rucker and we always look forward to the fireworks. They have always been a wonderful way to celebrate Independence Day. And I am aware of how dangerous they can be (this is why we leave it up to the professionals) and things sometimes do go wrong. However to say that “most fans would not have known anything happened, other than the fact that they might have seen some fireworks stayed close to ground level” is completely inaccurate. It was terrifying running from our seats to take cover behind parked cars. My husband took off running carrying our 2 year old while huge balls of red, green and blue fire screamed after us. Children were screaming and parents were in shock. While I am thankful there were only minor injuries, based on her statements I’m sure Ms. Eichhorn did not get to view the “very, very, very minor” incident from our vantage point. Praises do go to Ft. Rucker’s fire department and resucue squads for their quick response time!
I love Freedom Fest this year it was great! Loved the smiling faces fire works!
Thank you Ft Rucker and all involved for making this a wonderful event to attend. My family and I attended the event and enjoyed the whole afternoon. Again thank you so much. Now to the City of Daleville shame on you for your act of stupidity and sheer disregard for the safety of the public leaving the event by setting up a dangerous roadblock on a state hiway in a very dangerous location. As always a few bad apples can spoil any wonderful outing, as the police of Daleville did that night. Why was their not an Alabama trooper present at this roadblock as this is a state highway and not even close to the City of Daleville. AGAIN shame on your department for your act of ignorance. Stopping every 6 to 8 car to check for dui or whatever. Your time and effort would have been more effective with proper patrol techniques to observe for dui. Thank you Ft Rucker Shame on you City of Daleville
FREEDOM FEST was great this year, except for the minor injuries of course.
I really think having it on the 3rd made a difference at least for us. That still left you time to spend with family on 4th, especially if you have to travel. Loved the bigger location, last year was way too cramped.
GREAT JOB!
I am glad that no one was seriously injured. I was in the VIP parking lot when it happened and they were firing in our direction. It was scary. MWR should have never allowed anybody to sit that close. I hope that MWR takes a closer look next year and make sure that when things like that happen that no one is around. This could of easily been prevented.
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