DNR wants to know why the show's largest firework didn't hit the ground. The debris sent two women to the hospital Saturday night.

The event is the talk of the town in Arthur. People at the local drug store printed off pictures of the explosion. It seems like anyone with a camera has their own story about the show.


You can see the 16 inch shell explode and send debris into the crowd.

Organizers say it was the largest audience in the event's 12 year history. Mark Jones says police told him 50,000 people showed up.

Next year organizers say they're doing away with the 16 inch shell. But they're not planning to push the crowd back. They're hoping everyone will come back despite a scary few minutes.

"Everybody was having fun and just didn't realize what happened," said Ashley Miller.

"I saw a lot of people getting back to their seats, trying to make sure everybody was okay. We were okay, we had a lot of soot all over us," said Debbie Bennett.

The shell left a large hole where it exploded on the ground. DNR looked at the area all day yesterday as part of the investigation.


Both women are doing okay tonight.

DNR Investigating Arthur Fireworks
Reported by: Erin Maloney/WCIA 3 News

Monday, Jun 29, 2009 @05:31pm CST