Fireworks Cause Arkansas Senator’s New Truck To Go Up In Flames
on Jul 06, 2020
A early 4th of July celebration turned into a costly disaster for an Arkansas State Senator.
Senator Jim Hendren from northwest Arkansas posted photos to social media of the aftermath of a well-intended gesture gone wrong. According to Hendren, he put on a fireworks show for his church and family on Wednesday night (July 1). After the firework show, he placed the fireworks in the back of his 2019 Ford F-150 pickup truck. After noticing that some of the fireworks were still smoldering, he drove his truck to a water hose and doused the spent shells. Thinking that he had thoroughly extinguished the spent pyrotechnics, Hendren then parked his truck behind his home.
Unfortunately, some of the fireworks reignited, causing Hendren’s truck to burst into flames. Photos show Hendren’s truck engulfed in flames and also show the charred and melted remains of the vehicle.
So after putting on foreworks show for church and family, put spent fireworks in back of truck, doused with water hose to be sure nothing burning but apparently missed something. Had it not been for incredible first responders would have lost our house. All safe and grateful. pic.twitter.com/KQeVvZBLei
— Jim Hendren (@JimHendren1) July 2, 2020
Following his Twitter post, the Benton County Sheriff’s Department asked the Senator to issue a public service announcement about firework safety. In the video, also posted to Twitter, Senator Hendren shared his story and encouraged people not to become complacent when shooting fireworks.
“Every year we put on a firework show. It’s an important part of the holiday we all love. We’ve done it for over 25 years with our church and family without incident,” Hendren said. “But, I’m here to say you can’t be complacent.”
The camera then panned to the Senator’s burned truck, a 2019 F-150 with only 13,000 miles on it. Damage was also done to the Hendren’s home. The footage shows that part of the home bears burn marks and melted siding. See Senator Hendren’s public service announcement in full in the video below.
