Fireworks Explosion Sets House Ablaze, 9 Injured

PELHAM, N.H. (AP) - A fireworks explosion likely inside a home set it
ablaze Tuesday night and filled it with smoke, injuring at least nine
people, police said.
When police officers and firefighters arrived at the
home around 7:30 p.m., there were lots of fireworks in and around it,
the police department said. The initial report was fireworks had blown
up in the home, police said.
Firefighters put out the blaze.
The nine injured people ranged in age from infant to adult. Two children were taken to Boston hospitals for treatment.
Neighbor Richard Souza, who lives on a street behind
the home in Pelham, a town of about 13,000 residents an hour drive south
of Concord, said the people who live in the home set off fireworks
every year for July Fourth.
He said there seemed to be a lot of fireworks going off
Tuesday night and soon after fire trucks roared into the neighborhood
and firefighters turned their hoses on the home.
"It sounded like they were squirting the house down," Souza said.
A medical helicopter flew in to take an injured person away, he said.