Men killed in explosion after torch ignites fireworks in safe
HOPKINTON, N.H. —Two men were killed in an explosion Tuesday in Hopkinton when they used a torch to open a safe full of fireworks, police said.
Two men using a cutting torch on a safe containing fireworks sparked an explosion that killed them early Tuesday morning, investigators said.
Police said Lucas Bourke, 21, of Allenstown, and Ethan Keeler, 21, of Epsom, were killed in the explosion in a detached workshop at New Yard Landscaping on Farrington Corner Road in Hopkinton.
Investigators said the men were using an oxy-acetylene cutting torch to try to get into a safe that contained fireworks. That led to the explosion and the men's deaths, police said.
Police said they believe the two were at the workshop to carry out a burglary.
Investigators said the attempt to cut open the 4-foot-high, concrete-lined safe ignited the fireworks. The safe was blown through the building, landing outside -- proof of how powerful the blast was.
"Fireworks are made of pyrotechnic material, which burns very fast," said Deputy Chief Robert Farley of the state Fire Marshal's Office. "Any time you have pyrotechnics sealed in a container, when it burns, it creates very high pressure that burns very rapidly, and that's what caused the explosion."
Both men had recent brushes with the law, police said. Keeler was recently arrested on a felony charge of receiving stolen property.
Fireworks are made of pyrotechnic material, which burns very fast... As Worf would say "very astute"
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