By Patrick Baron

PONTIAC – A Pontiac man is in the hospital after he sustained injuries as he attempted to set off fireworks on the city’s west side Wednesday afternoon.

Pontiac Police Major Dan Davis said police received a call around 4:57 p.m. on the Fourth of July regarding a firework accident. Davis said a 35-year-old unidentified man was attempting to light fireworks in an alley in the 700 block of West Reynolds Street when one accidentally went off. The firework blasted off half of one of his thumbs and caused a facial injury, the extent of which isn’t known. The man was “alert and talkative” when Emergency Medical Service personnel arrived on the scene.

Pontiac Fire Chief Scott Runyon said the man was transported to OSF St. James-John W. Albrecht Medical Center before he was flown to a Peoria hospital. His condition at this time is not known.

Davis said the fireworks the man was trying to set off were illegal in Illinois and likely were purchased in a neighboring state.

Patrick Baron can be reached at [email protected].