By Simone Jasper
The Charlotte Observer
CHARLESTON, S.C. — A man died after a firework exploded on his head during a Fourth of July block party, South Carolina officials said.
Charleston-area deputies were called to a neighborhood at about 10:30 p.m. and found a man lying in a road. He died at the scene, the Dorchester County sheriff’s and coroner’s offices wrote in news releases.
The coroner’s office identified the man as 41-year-old Allen Ray McGrew. He is from Summerville, a roughly 25-mile drive northwest from Charleston.
McGrew was attending a block party on his street when he “ignited a large firework device” and put the lit firework on his head, possibly to show off, according to the coroner and details the man’s wife shared with deputies.
“She was trying to tell Allen not to do that when the firework went off and she observed Allen collapse,” deputies wrote in an incident report.
The explosion left McGrew with “massive head injuries,” according to the coroner’s office.
The man’s death, which the sheriff’s office called “accidental,” remained under investigation as of July 5.
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