Two injured at Liberty Lake fireworks

Liberty Lake’s Fourth of July fireworks turned tragic late Monday, first with a fatal heart attack, then when an 8-inch mortar shell exploded prematurely on the fireworks barge, injuring two people.

The heart attack victim was on a dock watching the display, said witness Michael Clark of Spokane Valley.

A rescuer, rushing to help the man, broke an ankle and a third person was burned while running through a bonfire to offer assistance. The names and conditions of the victims weren’t available late Monday.

Spokane County Sheriff’s Deputy Tom Walker, who was patrolling the lake on a boat, also arrived to help the heart attack victim.

“We were working on him when we heard a loud boom,” Walker said.

A shell had exploded on the fireworks barge, igniting two other shells, Clark said late Monday.

The explosion “sent chunks of wood and shrapnel into the water,” Clark said.

“It was just a mixture of a whole bunch of colors and I saw the guy fly down,” said onlooker Kelsey Mahl, 16.

One man on the barge suffered severe leg injuries and a concussion in the blast, and the other suffered arm injuries and a concussion, said Clark, who helped ferry medical workers and the two victims back to ambulances in a “big party boat, a pontoon boat.”

The victims were taken to a Spokane hospital.

No further details were available late early today.