Fireworks-related mishaps on the Fourth of July and Tuesday claimed a few victims in Broward and Palm Beach counties, including an 8-year-old girl who was shot in the leg in Lauderhill, teens who lost fingers in West Palm Beach and an apartment fire in Lauderhill, officials said.
On top of that, there were at least three suspected celebratory bullet incidents in Palm Beach County on Monday, along with an eye injury to a 9-year-old that didn’t require hospitalization.
And those don’t include the man who lost a hand in a July 2 fireworks accident.
The 8-year-old was riding in the back seat of a car about midnight Monday while her mother was driving north on Northwest 56th Avenue near Sunrise Boulevard when the woman heard a barrage of loud explosions, according to Lauderhill police.
She looked back and noticed her daughter was injured and immediately drove to Florida Medical Center.
Police said it appears a projectile passed through the bottom of the car door and hit the girl in the leg. The injury isn’t life-threatening and she’s expected to make a full recovery.
Police are exploring the possibility the girl was hit by a celebratory Fourth of July bullet fired into the air.
Police from numerous municipalities issued warnings Monday that firing bullets into the air can have severe consequences.
Delray Beach Police said in a tweet Tuesday that one woman thought a firework hit her in the arm Monday night in the 1100 block of Southwest Fourth Avenue, but doctors later found out she was hit by a stray bullet from a celebratory shot. She is expected to recover.
Elsewhere, one man was hospitalized with minor injuries after Lauderhill and Sunrise fire departments responded to an apartment fire in the 2100 block of Northwest 59th Terrace.
A tweet from the Lauderhill Fire Department spokesman account said the fire may have been started by fireworks landing on the balcony.
Two teens lost fingers in separate incidents Monday in West Palm Beach, according to Mike Jachles, spokesman for the West Palm Beach Police.
In the first incident, a 13-year-old boy from West Palm Beach lost three fingers on his left hand.
A group of boys who had been lighting fireworks near a convenience store parking in the 700 block of North Tamarind Avenue about 4:30 p.m. Monday afternoon, West Palm Beach Police said.
The victim was taken to St. Mary’s Hospital.
In the second incident a 15-year-old boy was taken to St. Mary’s missing the thumb and middle finger on his right hand.
About 7:45 p.m. police found the thumb at 10th Street and Tamarind Avenue and took it to the hospital, Jachles said.
A man called 911 after a group of people at the convenience store found a second finger. The communications operator told the caller to put it next to ice while waiting for officers to come get it.
The caller said he would keep searching for the third missing finger.
It’s not know whether either or both were successfully re-attached.
The 9-year-old received the eye injury about 10 p.m. in the 4300 block of Brewster Lane, and it happened after the child’s family complained about a neighbor setting off fireworks. The child didn’t require hospitalization, Jachles said.
The first West Palm Beach celebratory shooting incident happened about 10 p.m. when a bullet pierced the roof of a car parked in the 4400 block of North Shore Drive. No one was in the car, Jachles said.
The second celebratory shooting incident happened about 10:30 p.m. and a female was shot in the leg while in her car in the 17000 block of 37th Street. She was taken to the hospital by West Palm Beach Fire Rescue in fair condition.
On Tuesday about 1:30 p.m., a 12-year-old boy was injured in the head after he leaned over to light a firework in the 1100 block of 18th Street and it exploded, West Palm Beach Police said. He was taken to St. Mary’s Medical Center.
