Authorities say a 58-year-old man was flown to the hospital in critical condition after a commercial-grade firework exploded in his face near Cary Sunday evening.
The Lake County Sheriff’s Office and Cary Fire Protection District responded around 9:15 p.m. Sunday to the 24400 block of Hickory Nut Grove Road in unincorporated Cary for a person seriously injured by a firework.
Sheriff’s deputies arrived and found a 58-year-old man in and out of consciousness, according to Lake County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Chief Christopher Covelli.
A preliminary investigation shows the man came to a gathering at the Hickory Nut Grove Road residence.
He brought numerous commercially rated fireworks, which require a permit to possess and detonate, Covelli said.
The man was detonating the fireworks for those at the gathering.
He lit a firework but it did not detonate as expected.
Covelli said the man looked into the tube housing the firework and it discharged, striking his face and exploding upon contact.
The man sustained major injuries to the head and became unconscious.
Paramedics transported him to Northwestern Medicine Hospital in McHenry where they met a LifeNet medical helicopter.
The helicopter flew the man to Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville where he remains in critical condition.
Covelli said there were several unexploded commercial-grade fireworks collected by sheriff’s deputies.
They have since been transferred to the Waukegan Bomb Squad for destruction.
Criminal charges are possible in the incident, Covelli added.