Fireworks operator injured during Ojai Fourth of July show

An Ojai city fireworks show was stopped soon after it began when a pyrotechnic operator was injured, officials said.

A pyrotechnic “prematurely went off and seriously injured one of the operators,” according to notes on the incident, said Cpt. Dave Wareham of the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department.

The show was scheduled to begin at Nordhoff High School at 9:15 p.m., according to promotional materials online.

The accident occurred around 9:30 p.m., Wareham said.

Wareham said no other information on the victim or the extent of the injury was available.

Cal OSHA and the Ventura County Fire Department are continuing to investigate, Wareham said.

The problem in Ojai was overshadowed by a major fireworks malfunction in nearby Simi Valley, where 28 people were injured.

Simi Valley police said they believe at least one pyrotechnic device prematurely detonated in its mortar during a Fourth of July celebration at Rancho Santa Susana Community Park, causing a chain reaction that tipped over other pyrotechnics and launched them into the crowd of spectators.

Simi Valley police Cmdr. Blair Summey said that after the early detonation, a group of live canisters fell over like “dominoes.” One or more of them fired into the crowd of spectators, the closest of whom were about 800 feet away.

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