Trending
The expectation was that Pennsylvania's newly liberalized fireworks law might trigger problems Wednesday with individuals mishandling the more powerful items that they now can set off for Independence Day.
The 911 centers had no such reports by mid-evening, but a mishap occurred involving two more traditional pyrotechnical operations -- one natural, one artificial.
During a thunderstorm early in the afternoon, lightning struck a couple of shells at one of the fireworks stations set up in a remote field at DelGrosso's Park, scene of one of the region's biggest annual July 4 displays.
The fireworks crew had taken shelter during the storm and no one was hurt, park spokeswoman Amy Mearkle said.
There was a boom, but the fireworks didn't fly into the air as they would have during the show, which was to go on as scheduled at 10:30 p.m., Mearkle said.
Lightning from the same storm knocked out a computer that helps control operation of the Lazy River in the Laguna Splash section of the park, shutting down the river for the day, Mearkle said.