Texas Father Killed While Launching Huge Firework Off His Chest
A Texas man was killed Tuesday after he launched a firework off his chest, Houston’s KPRC reported.
Justin Bartek, 30, was a beloved Columbus, Tex., postal worker who left behind a girlfriend and a three-year-old son. Bartek was hanging with friends at a Colorado River fishing hole when he held a lit “Medieval Knight” firework up to his chest—it exploded, critically injuring him, and he died after being transported to a hospital by paramedics.
There are multiple fireworks called “Medieval Knight,” but these “60 gram Maximum LOUD!” shells, available from a Texas shop just an hour away from Bartek’s home, are likely the ones that killed him.
Bartek’s mom told KPRC his brother had been injured in an accident on the Fourth of July, but didn’t say whether it was firework-related.
Bartek is the second person this month to die while launching a firework off of his body. A 22-year-old Maine man was killed instantly (and gruesomely) after lighting a firework on his head over the weekend.
