A Man Was Smoking Near Stored Fireworks and Destroyed His Entire Neighborhood in Seconds
On June 24, a normal Wednesday afternoon on Smuggler’s Cove Road turned into something no one in the Lagoon Point neighborhood will forget. A house in Greenbank exploded and it kept exploding for hours.
The cause? Around 700 pounds of fireworks stored inside a residential home. A lit cigarette is believed to have set it all off.
A Cigarette and 700 Pounds of Fireworks Leveled a Neighborhood
The blast occurred just before 4 p.m. The ensuing fire destroyed a neighboring home and damaged a third. Debris was found hundreds of feet away, and the explosions continued for hours.
Neighbors said the ground shook. Chris Tincher told reporters his wife initially thought it was an earthquake. Another neighbor, Tom Selvidge, described it as being “like a war zone.”
Even after the initial blaze was brought under control, another small explosion occurred shortly after 5 p.m. About 90 minutes later, fireworks were still detonating.
Three Firefighters Were 20 Feet Away When It Blew
Two deputy chiefs and one firefighter were injured. Two firefighters were treated and released. A third suffered a hand injury that required surgery and remained hospitalized at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.
Two homeowners also drove themselves to the hospital and are expected to recover.
Fire Chief Jerry Helm did not sugarcoat how close it got. “If the guys had been standing in a spot a second later or a second earlier, we probably would have all three of them down at Harborview right now,” he said.
Once the explosion happened, fireworks were shooting across the road and hitting the rigs. The crew had no warning before the first blast hit.
Two GoFundMe campaigns have been set up, one for the injured firefighters and one for Tonya Hernandez, whose home next door was also destroyed. She and her 16-year-old spent the night in a truck after the fire.
This is the same brutal reality we saw in Vilano Beach, where firefighters arrived to a burning home and could not get water fast enough to stop it and the people who show up to help are not always shielded from what happens next.
How Did 700 Pounds of Fireworks End Up in a House
Tanya, whose home was right next door, told KIRO Newsradio that the owner had previously tried to offload fireworks onto her property and she refused. She said that the day before the explosion, she believed three or four truckloads of fireworks were delivered to the home.
For a more detailed breakdown of the timeline and what investigators found on scene, the full incident report is covered in our Greenbank home explosion story.
Washington State Deputy Fire Marshal Courtney Chambers explained that commercial or display-grade fireworks are separately regulated and require a license. The type of fireworks stored at this property had not been publicly confirmed as of June 25.
The cause of the explosion remains under investigation by the Region 3 Arson Task Force and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. No arrests have been made. Citations or criminal charges could be considered depending on the findings.
As Chief Helm put it: “They’re kind of a ticking time bomb. You’re not sure when they’re going to go off.”
For the latest official updates on this story, follow the ongoing coverage on FOX 13 Seattle.
Why This Matters
This is not a freak accident. It is a reminder that fireworks carry serious explosive risk when stored improperly or in large quantities inside a home.
According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, an estimated 14,700 people were injured by fireworks in 2024, a jump of roughly 52% in injuries compared to 2023. There were 11 deaths that year, most involving misuse and device malfunctions.
This explosion happened 10 days before the Fourth of July, the single most dangerous period for fireworks incidents in the country. When someone stores hundreds of pounds in a residential home with no safety protocols and a lit cigarette nearby, the result is what happened on Whidbey Island.
If you want to stay current on home safety incidents like this as they develop, there is a WhatsApp channel that covers these stories regularly and is worth keeping an eye on.
What Neighbors Should Know Before 4th of July
If you notice large fireworks deliveries at a home near you in the days before July 4, report it. You can contact your local fire marshal or call the ATF tip line at 1-888-ATF-TIPS.
The Island County Sheriff’s Office is still asking anyone with video of this incident to reach out directly.
Do not assume a large cache is legal just because someone bought it. Display-grade fireworks require a license and 700 pounds in a house is nowhere close to legal storage.
This situation follows a pattern we have seen before. In Philadelphia, neighbors on Percy Street saw warning signs for hours and reported them and still could not stop what happened.
We covered how a woman set fire to a home on Percy Street after police failed to act on multiple warnings and the result was a neighbor’s death. The lesson from both cases is the same: when something feels wrong in your neighborhood, document it and keep pushing.
Have you ever noticed something suspicious near your home and not known what to do? Drop your experience in the comments and it might help someone else reading this make the right call.
Key Takeaways
The explosion happened June 24, 2026, at Smuggler’s Cove Road near Lagoon Point, Greenbank. Two homes were destroyed, a third was damaged.
Five people were injured, three firefighters and two civilians. All are expected to recover. The ATF and Region 3 Arson Task Force are actively investigating. No arrests have been made as of June 25, 2026.
Wrapping Up
This investigation is still active. But what is already clear is that one home’s decision to store hundreds of pounds of explosive material put an entire street and a full fire crew at serious risk.
If this story made you stop and think about what might be happening on your own street, that reaction is the right one.
For more home safety news that actually matters, visit Build Like New. Follow us on X and Facebook for updates on this story and others like it as they break.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only, based on reports from Central Whidbey Island Fire & Rescue, the Island County Sheriff’s Office, and news coverage as of June 25, 2026. The investigation is ongoing and details may change.
