Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
PULLMAN — A Pullman man nearly lost his life as a firework launch tube braced on his thigh exploded on the Fourth of July.
The tube was for an aerial display.
Neighbors of the man in his 20s came to his rescue. The people in the 300 block of NW Thomas Street called 9-1-1 while applying a belt tourniquet and direct pressure to his groin area. The explosion nicked his artery, according to Pullman police Assistant Chief Ryan Scharnhorst.
“Pullman Police officer Brock Westerman applying a tourniquet … may have saved the man from possibly bleeding out and dying,” said Scharnhorst.
The patient was stabilized by paramedics before being taken to Pullman Regional Hospital and then flown to Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane for surgery.
The Pullman fire crews responded to several fires on the Fourth of July 4 caused by fireworks.
An acre of open ground burned near the intersection of SE Clearwater Drive and SE Bypass Drive at about 9:30 p.m. It was caused by fireworks, said Fire Marshal Chris Wehrung.
A 60-foot tall tree and two power poles burned in the 400 block of NW Harrison Street around 10:30 p.m. The blaze was started by fireworks. No structures were damaged.
A smaller fire in grass and weeds was extinguished by a person with a hose in the 900 block of Itani Drive at roughly 11:30 p.m. It was attributed to fireworks.
Bill Stevenson is the former editor of the Whitman County Gazette, Colfax Daily Bulletin and Franklin Connection. He has nearly 30 years of journalism experience covering news in Eastern Washington.
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