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A malfunction during the city of Plano’s Fourth of July fireworks display ignited a grass fire and cut the show short Saturday night.
No one was hurt and no structures were damaged, but several acres of land burned, Plano Fire-Rescue said.
Thee fire started during Plano’s All American 4th display, which was launched from Lavon Farms near the Plano Event Center, officials said.
The show was stopped about six minutes before the grand finale of the 25-minute show.
The fire started when a 6-inch mortar exploded inside its launching tube and sparked a chain reaction, fire officials said.
Fire crews had been stationed nearby in case something went wrong, as they are every Fourth of July, Plano fire officials said. It took firefighters about an hour to contain the blaze and put out all the hot spots.
The Fire Marshal’s Office and the pyrotechnic company for the display stayed at the scene overnight to determine how to remove the unused fireworks safely.
The livestream for the Plano fireworks show, which was set to start at 9:30 p.m., appeared to go dark shortly after the 18-minute mark. Videos of the fireworks show shared on social media, including one posted on YouTube, showed people exclaiming and some scrambling away after the malfunction.
A comment from Lavon Farms’ Facebook page after the fireworks display said everyone was OK and thanked people for their prayers.