'It shot me in the leg': London, Ont. man and his house hit by wayward fireworks

London, Ont. -

Jon Trotz was just about to head inside his east London, Ont. home when a blast rocked him.

"A firework came off and shot me in the back of the leg and then you can see the explosion," says Trotz, referring to video from exterior cameras on his Rosewood Ave home.

He says neighbours from down the street were setting off fireworks in Silverwoods Park but didn't move far enough away from the nearby houses.

Trotz says it wasn't just him who was potentially in danger. His next door neighbour was outside with her kids when another wayward firework nearly hit her.

"You don't see the little one in the picture because the little one got away, but she ran into the middle of the street and it just missed her," says Trotz, who caught the incident on multiple cameras.

"When it bounced off my calf, it didn't burn me but it was just more of a shock".

Exterior Camera Footage on Rosewood Ave in London, Ont. shows the moment a firework display went awry.

Exterior Camera Footage on Rosewood Ave in London, Ont. shows the moment a firework display went awry.

Trotz is lucky he wasn't injured. If you believe the incident is no big deal, things could have been a lot worse.

Columbus Blue Jackets goaltender Matiss Kivlenieks died of chest trauma from an errant fireworks mortar blast in what authorities described Monday as a tragic accident on the Fourth of July.

Police in Novi, Michigan, said the firework tilted slightly and started to fire toward people nearby Sunday night. The 24-year-old Kivlenieks was in a hot tub and tried to get clear with several other people, police Lt. Jason Meier said. Authorities earlier said the Lativan had died of an apparent head injury during a fall, but an autopsy clarified the cause of death.

In London, between July 1, and July 4, the London Fire Department (LFD) responded to 68 Fireworks complaints in the city.

"A lot of the times when we do get calls we show up after the fact," says Matt Hepditch, deputy fire chief with the LFD.

"The fireworks have already been discharged, and the event is over, there's no fire risk that's been determined. And then at that point we hand out the educational flyer, provide education on the bylaws well."

Hepditch says they have not had any reports of serious injuries, but do see people receive minor burns annually.

"The fireworks that are purchased from vendors, they are commercial fireworks and they're permitted to be used. The issue is when people don't do it safely, and when they don't follow the manufacturer's instructions."

Monday afternoon, Trotz showed off the two firework casings he found in his backyard.

Jon Trotz holds two fireworks casings that hit his house Friday, July 2, 2021. (Brent Lale/CTV London)

Jon Trotz holds two fireworks casings that hit his house Friday, July 2, 2021. (Brent Lale/CTV London)

He'd like to see a larger crackdown on people not abiding by the city's rules.

'It shouldn't be going on for four or five consecutive days", says Trotz.

"There's people with PTSD, and I have dogs that are petrified of it so I've got three days of a dog hiding and shivering under the bed. Honestly I wouldn't mind if they were outlawed."