A Calais man was killed Saturday night when he set off fireworks
on top of his head, and at least four other people were reportedly injured while handling fireworks in what state Fire Marshal Joe Thomas called one of the most disturbing July 4th holiday weekends in recent memory.
Thomas said 22-year-old Devon Staples of Calais was killed
after placing a fireworks mortar tube atop his head and setting it off with explosives inside the tube around 10 p.m. It was the first fireworks-related death in Maine since fireworks were legalized in 2012, Thomas said.
Devon Staples
Search photos available for purchase:
Photo Store →
“It’s certainly a tragedy and hopefully a learning experience for the public, that these devices are not toys,” Thomas said Sunday evening.
He said he found the circumstances of Staples’ death particularly disturbing.
An investigator for the state Fire Marshal’s Office told Thomas that Staples was partying and drinking with friends in a friend’s backyard on South Street when Staples brought up the possibility of staging a “stunt” that would involve placing the fireworks mortar tube on top of his head and setting it off.
Mortar tubes are typically made of cardboard or some type of composite material, Thomas said. They are designed to hold prepackaged charges that launch fireworks into the air.
“His friends apparently thought they had talked him out of trying it,” Thomas said. “When they thought the issue had been put to rest, they went back to the firepit.”
Shortly after, they noticed Staples had placed the mortar tube on his head and was ready to set off the fireworks. The explosion caused a fatal head injury and Staples died instantly.
The victim’s brother, Cody Staples, told the New York Daily News it was an accident. He said his brother was holding a lighter and it accidentally caused the firework to go off.
“I was the first one who got there. There was no rushing him to the hospital. There was no Devon left when I got there,” his brother said. “It was a freak accident. But Devon was not the kind of person who would do something stupid. He was the kind of person who would pretend to do something stupid to make people laugh.”