Fireworks Back at Ocracoke for 1st Time Since 2009 Explosion

OCRACOKE, N.C. (AP) — Ocracoke Island is having an Independence Day firework display for the first time since four workers were killed in a 2009 explosion.

The fireworks are set to start on the remote Outer Banks island only accessible by boat at 9:15 p.m. Sunday at the National Parks Service dock.

It is the first show since nearly 700 pounds of fireworks exploded in the back of a truck as five workers were putting in electronic fuses on July 4, 2009. Four workers died in the blast and the fifth suffered severe burns. The employees were working inside the truck because the ground was wet outside.

The company setting up the display was fined more than $40,000 by the North Carolina Department of Labor.

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