July 4 Fireworks Display Accidentally Goes Off During Setup

Fireworks intended for a Fourth of July celebration in Ocean City, Maryland, accidentally went off hours earlier than scheduled on Sunday morning.

Employees of the company setting up the display on the city’s busy beach received minor injuries following the unintentional detonation. Footage shared online showed rockets and smoke soaring into the sky:

“Prior to the fireworks being offloaded from the vehicle, Fire Marshals secure a safe zone around the fireworks and put other safety protocols in place,” Ocean City Fire Chief Richie Bowers said in a statement shared on Facebook.

Bowers said those safety protocols “kept anyone else from being injured.”

An investigation into the cause of the incident is ongoing.

“A perimeter around the fireworks site has been established and will remain in place until the safety inspections are complete, which could take several days,” fire officials said. The July 4 display, and another that was set to take place in the city, were canceled “due to an abundance of caution,” they added.