Explosion injures man in Warren

Staff report

WARREN

A 47-year-old Warren man underwent surgery Wednesday morning in St. Elizabeth Health Center for injuries to his hand from an explosion inside his home. He lost three fingers.

Ron Black Jr. of Clermont Avenue Northeast was injured at 3:05 a.m. Wednesday when a large firecracker known as an M-80 exploded in his kitchen because the fuse “lit too quick,” he told police.

Authorities initially thought Black was going to lose most of one hand and that the explosive was homemade, but authorities later learned that Black would not lose his hand and that the explosive was not homemade, said Warren Fire Chief Ken Nussle.

Because of the uncertainty of the situation, the Warren police and fire departments received assistance from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the State Fire Marshal’s Office.

Nussle said it’s still not clear why Black was igniting the M-80 in his kitchen at 3:05 a.m. or why he had done it near a tub of water, a bag of sandlike material and a bottle of liquid drain de-clogger.

The explosion injured Black’s hand and caused a puncture wound to his abdomen.

Black went to his bedroom after the explosion and contacted his sister, who lives next door, about 4:45 a.m. She called 911. Police found Black in the bathroom with his injured hand in some water in the bathtub.

In the kitchen, police found blood, broken drinking glasses, cardboard flakes, water, a shattered kitchen window and small holes in the kitchen wall and ceiling.