BRONSON, MI (WTVB) – A Bronson business owner continues to recover from serious burns he suffered Sunday night in a fireworks explosion at the Gilead Lake public access site.
Smitty’s Pizza owner and Bronson Community Schools teacher Eric Smith is in the Bronson Methodist Hospital Burn and Wound Center in Kalamazoo.
Gilead Lake Association President Rick Chard says Smith and two other men were taken to Parkview Regional Medical Center following the explosion. Smith was later transferred to Bronson while the other two were released. A fourth person was also burned in the explosion but not as badly as the other three.
Bronson Fire Chief Scott Wilber says a spark went into a bucket of mortar round type fireworks causing the explosion which blew six people off a pontoon.
Smith and his helpers put on the fireworks show at Gilead Lake every year thanks to donations from nearby residents.
The Branch Count Sheriff’s Department Marine Patrol is investigating the incident.