


A 70-year-old man was reportedly killed setting off fireworks when one exploded in his face on a Wareham beach during Fourth of July celebrations, the Plymouth DA and State Fire Marshal announced Saturday.
Just after 9 p.m. Friday, a 911 call alerted Wareham Police of a person hit by a firework at 34 Beach St., officials said.
At the scene, Wareham first responders located a man with “an apparent facial injury from a firework,” the DA’s office said. The victim, identified as Robert Spagnuolo, 70, of Wareham, was pronounced dead at the scene.
“After interviewing several witnesses on scene, investigators determined that Spagnuolo was setting off fireworks at the beach when one exploded in his face, causing traumatic injuries,” the DA’s office said.
The state Office of the Chief Medical Examiner is expected to determine the cause and manner of Spagnuolo’s death, officials said Saturday.
Local police brought in investigators with the Plymouth County DA’s office, the State Police Bomb Squad and the Massachusetts Fire Marshal’s Office. An investigation into the Fourth of July incident remains ongoing.
The private use or possession of fireworks without a permit is illegal in the state of Massachusetts. State authorities have reported over 550 fires and explosions involving illegal fireworks in the last five years, six firefighter injuries in the cases, damages estimated at about $1 million, and over 200 burns and other injuries from fireworks treated at medical facilities.
The incident comes days after a firework explosion in Cape Cod.