3 Die in Explosion at Fireworks Warehouse

KILGORE, Texas -- An anguished fireworks warehouse owner expressed sympathy for three employees, including his own father, who were killed when explosions tore through the building, the second deadly fireworks accident in a week.

“I ask you to pray for the peace and comfort of us and all that are hurting,” a teary-eyed Joe Lamb read from a handwritten statement. “Three wonderful people ... tragically lost their lives doing something they truly loved to do.”

The workers’ bodies were recovered Friday, hours after the blasts at Pyrotechnics by Lamb Co.’s warehouse. Five people suffered minor injuries. The warehouse and six nearby houses were damaged or destroyed.

Twelve fireworks displays planned Friday night in east Texas cities were canceled, including Kilgore.

On Wednesday, a truck packed with fireworks exploded in Bonita Springs, Fla., killing five workers who had been unloading the shipment for Independence Day displays there and in Naples.

Investigators have said both blasts appeared to be accidental. “We’re leaning toward static electricity, some kind of spark,” Kilgore Police Chief Ronnie Moore said Friday.

Lamb’s business was appropriately registered and had no prior problems, said Clay Alexander, a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agent.

Kilgore police identified the victims as Marvin Lamb, Melinda Edmundson, 25, and Martin Donner, 58. Marvin Lamb’s age was not available.

Donner was a pyrotechnician who was helping set up eight fireworks displays when the explosions occurred, said his daughter Sarah, 29. He was a former firefighter and aviation professor at LeTourneau University, she said.

“The blasts shot fireworks and other debris several blocks in this town 115 miles southeast of Dallas. About 25 people were displaced, including 15 who were in one home where relatives had gathered for the holiday weekend. The American Red Cross was helping them find places to stay.

The ATF said thousands of pounds of fireworks were inside the warehouse and a tractor-trailer rig parked outside. The remaining fireworks were being taken to a remote firing range to be detonated.