Man dies on the 4th of July after setting firework off on his head

Fireworks.
(Image credit: Thomas Lhones/Getty Images)

A 22-year-old man in Maine was killed Saturday night after setting off a firework on top of his head, authorities said.

Devon Staples of Calais was drinking with friends on the 4th of July when the incident took place, Stephen McCausland, spokesman for the Maine Department of Public Safety, said. Staples died instantly. The firework was designed to launch the explosive out of a small tube into the air, The Boston Globe reports. This was the first fireworks-related death to take place in Maine since they became legal in 2012, McCausland said.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.