Man seriously injured in fireworks accident in Fort Lauderdale

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – A man was seriously injured Monday in a fireworks accident in Fort Lauderdale, authorities said.

The incident was reported Monday afternoon at a home at 1300 NW 11th Place.

Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue officials said the man suffered a serious injury and was taken as a trauma alert to Broward Health Medical Center. 

They said the man's condition was very serious, but stable.

Fire Rescue officials and police investigators were at the scene trying to determine exactly what happened.

A neighbor told Local 10 News reporter Sanela Sabovic that he heard the victim screaming and ran over to help. He said the victim was bleeding from his left hand. 

"I go across the street and there's blood everywhere, and the hand is just … one of his fingers came off. They found his finger. His thumb is literally split to pieces," John Reed said.

Reed said he told the victim, who he identified as Gary, to keep still until help arrived, but he said the victim told him he was OK and "kept trying to get up and move around." 

Authorities said no one else was injured.

This isn't the first firework injury that has happened on the holiday weekend. 

In 2015 Super Bowl champion and South Florida native Jason Pierre Paul nearly lost his hand after a firework explosion cost him a finger and mangled another. 

The New York Giants defensive end was forced to spend a season on the sidelines after his injury. 

On Monday, in Miami-Dade County, law enforcement investigated illegal firework sales.

"(We're) making sure that all these vendors of fireworks are selling legal fireworks and fireworks that you get in your hands are approved and safe," said Ozzie Norad, an investigator with Miami-Dade Fire Rescue. 

The National Council on Firework Safety is urging people to always keep water close by, never carry fireworks in a pocket and never shoot fireworks into metal or glass containers.