Antioch

Antioch Man Blows Both Hands Up After Lighting Up Firework

A man in Antioch blew both of his hands up after lighting up a firework he found in an empty trash can Thursday morning. 

The man, who has not been identified, was transferred to the hospital on an ambulance and was suffering significant wounds to his hands.

The victim blew all of his fingers off on one hand and might have to have the other hand amputated, emergency crews said.

"This is a serious injury, this is something we want our comunity to be aware of, it is extremely dangerous," said a Contra Costa Fire Deparment firefighter.

According to police, the victim saw the firework outside Gumaros Auto Repair Shop and lit it, ignoring his coworker who warned him not to.

"I told him not to do it," said witness Juan Luis Bravo Rojo. "All I heard was an explosion."

Antioch police and the Contra Costa Fire Department responded to the scene and were able to stop the "extensive bleeing."

"Fireworks are extremely danegous, not ony to the person but they are capable of causing fires both vegetatation fires and structure fires like we've seen in the last 24 hours," said a CCFD officer. 

The Valley Medical Center in San Jose says recovery from these types of injuries tends to be long and painful.

"This could lead to life threatening injuries," said VMC burn unit nurse Lea Zaballero. "They may spend time in the hospital for a long time, for rehabilitation, physical and occupational therapy."

Other Bay Area residents suffered firework-related injuries. A 28-year-old man lost a finger and part of a second one in an illegal fireworks accident in Newark on Wednesday night, an Alameda County fire official said.

The incident was reported at 10:05 p.m. in the 5200 block of Dupont Avenue, Division Chief Bonnie Terra said.

The explosion of the illegal firework caused the full amputation of one of the man's fingers and the partial amputation of another, Terra said.

No other details about the case were immediately available.

In San Francisco, police are seeking a driver who allegedly threw fireworks at a woman as she was standing on a corner in SF's Panhandle neighborhood on the Fourth of July holiday, police said.

Officers responded around 7:45 p.m. Wednesday to Fulton Street and Masonic Avenue after learning of an aggravated assault there.

The victim, a 20-year-old woman, was standing at the corner when a male driver pulled up in a sedan and threw fireworks at her. The fireworks apparently went off, causing a blast injury to the woman's left foot, according to police.

The driver then sped off, heading east on Fulton Street, police said.

The victim was taken to a hospital with injuries not considered life-threatening.

A detailed description of the driver was not immediately available from police.

Damian Trujillo contributed to this report.

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