Barge Unexpectedly Catches on Fire During Fireworks Show in Middletown

The end of a fireworks show in Middletown on Saturday caused quite a scare when the barge shooting them off caught on fire.

Viewer Kelly Martin sent in video from the fireworks show. She says the show was still going on when the fire broke out, but got really big toward the finale.

According to Mayor Dan Drew, there was an unexpected fire on the barge that grew pretty big. He says during the fire, a few shells exploded on the surface of the barge. The shooters were inside of a steel box on the deck the entire time.

On Sunday, Mayor Drew released an update on the cause of the fire on Facebook. He said, "our theory of the fire at this point is that three dud shells that exploded low ignited the plastic PVC tubing that holds the shells prior to launch. Normally, as you know, the shells detonate high enough that ignited portions go out before coming down. Some of these exploded low enough that it appears they were still incendiary when they landed on the plastic."

Firefighters from Cromwell, Middletown and Portland who were on boats were able to extinguish the fire.

Nobody was injured.

Contact Us