Abstract: Employees #1 through #3 were setting up a fireworks display on the deck of a barge. They attached electric matches (squibs) to the aerial shells and loaded the shells into mortar racks to be fired electronically at a later time. The president of the company called the lead operator and told him that some of the sponsors had pulled out, and that they weren't going to shoot all of the shells. The employees removed some of the shells off the barge and put them back into the truck, which was on the dock. Apparently, as they were taking the aerial shells out of the mortar racks and pulling the squibs out of the fuses to pack the shells back into their boxes, friction set off one of the electric matches, causing an explosion and fire. Employee #1 sustained burns over 60 percent of his body and was hospitalized; Employees #2 and #3 died as a result of their burns.