Family members urge caution after neighborhood fireworks display goes awry in Highland
Jul 5, 2024, 10:21 PM
HIGHLAND — After their neighborhood’s Fourth of July fireworks show went awry, a family is cautioning others to be prepared for anything.
Family members said the display outside the Johnson home was about halfway through Thursday evening when a box-shaped aerial firework apparently tipped or malfunctioned, firing into the crowd and lighting a bush next to the driveway on fire.
“That’s what we think is that one of them exploded from the center and then it fell onto its side and just started shooting out and going all over the place,” said Jake Westover, who witnessed the mishap.
Surveillance cameras captured the fireworks as they exploded in the crowd.
“In the video, I’m the one sitting there, taking it all in, and I think everyone was in shock, and they started bailing, and I sat there and said, ‘well, I think this is normal,’” said homeowner Larry Johnson, “I think there was like 20, 25 people and six of us got hit.”
He acknowledged he didn’t know if he would host another display and had seen mishaps in previous years.
“My wife says, ‘no,’” Johnson said. “She says we’re going to go watch a show, and then I see that at Stadium of Fire, somebody got hurt there too, so you never know. It’s just unpredictable.”
Family members suffered some minor burns, Westover said, but everyone was grateful that the situation didn’t end worse.
“Luckily, nobody got hurt and minor, minor damage,” Westover said. “I think that was our biggest regret was being too close.”

The moment when a firework exploded underneath a couple of people who were sitting down in their chairs. (Courtesy Larry Johnson)
Johnson said the family was prepared with fire extinguishers, buckets, and a hose, which they ultimately employed to put the fire out on the bush.
He encouraged other families to simply be as prepared as possible and also to contemplate what could possibly go wrong.
“You’ve got to be as safe as you can, but then there’s the unknown,” Johnson said. “So that’s what pretty much happened.”