Stadium of Fire show being investigated; what it was like during the show
Jul 7, 2024, 8:38 AM | Updated: 8:39 am
At least one person was injured by a firework malfunction at Provo's Stadium of Fire festival Thursday. (Isaac Hale, Deseret News and Sarah Earnshaw)
(Isaac Hale, Deseret News and Sarah Earnshaw)
PROVO, Utah — Many people who were at the Stadium of Fire Thursday night are still in shock over what happened, when stray fireworks shot into the crowd.
John Dymock was just a few feet from where several people were hit on the East Side of the stadium. He said after the F-35 jets flew over the stadium; chaos erupted.
“We had, like, an explosion to our left,” Dymock said, “And then, I was paying attention to that, I didn’t see the other one hit until after some of the screams were starting to happen. And then when we turned, it was like one row in front of us there was one that hit a gentleman right there.”
Dymock says several people around him in the stands were hit, including one man in the chest.
“He laid down almost immediately. A guy next to him had a lot of ash and other things on his white shirt that he had got hit with,” Dymock said.
“People were taking a bunch of water and pouring it over him and trying to cool him off because he got hit.”
Dymock said another woman’s hair was also smoldering and people were trying to help her get the fire out.
“That was the opening ceremony, that was not even the big hurrah after,” Dymock said.
Dymock says he noticed a lot of people sitting near them didn’t stick around for the fireworks show at the end.
Related: Utah study examines fireworks and pollution in July
Blue Helm, the company who does publicity for Stadium of Fire, said they had all the fireworks inspected by authorities before the show. The company also said they used the same fireworks company they’ve used for 40 years.
Provo City Fire Marshall Lynn Schofield said they are investigating the incident.
“Our job is to figure out how that happened,” Schofield said. “And we will do our job.”
Schofield also said they are asking the State Fire Marshal to help them in their investigation.
This is not the first time they’ve responded to firework injuries at the Stadium of Fire, according to Schofield.
Related: One hit in the face by malfunctioning firework, others injured during Stadium of Fire performance
