Nine adults and children received minor injuries last night when part of a fireworks display capping Etna's annual Light-Up Night misfired into a group of onlookers and exploded.

Etna Fire Chief Greg Porter said the minor injuries were about evenly split between burns from the misfired fireworks and bumps and bruises caused when people panicked and tried to evacuate the scene.

"There was a little mayhem after it started as people tried to get out of the way, a bit of stampede, but we were able to get order back quickly," Chief Porter said.

Paramedics treated those injured; no one needed to be transported by ambulance to a hospital,although some indicated they might do so by private means.

The incident occurred about 8:45 p.m. following the event's parade and other activities such as ice sculptures, store displays and visits with Santa Claus.

Zambelli Internationale was shooting off its fireworks display from a vacant lot on Bridge Street to the skies over the center of town. A group of 150 to 200 people were standing about 400 feet away from where the pyrotechnics were being launched, Chief Porter said.

"From out best guess, one of the sets of tubes tipped over after it was lit. There was nothing the operator could do to stop it. There were six to eight tubes and all of them fired rounds into the crowd."

Because of the incident, the fireworks display was halted, a planned community bonfire was canceled and the crowd was sent home. Both the fireworks display and the bonfire were relatively recent additions to the long-time event.

"For five years, they went off without a hitch and concluded a very nice community event," Chief Porter said.

"It was really a beautiful day. Everything went extremely well but this mishap brought an unusual conclusion to it."

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