NORTH ANDOVER, MASS. (WHDH) - A man injured while handling fireworks in North Andover ahead of the town’s July Fourth show has been identified by several fire departments as Walter “Wally” Shaw, a firefighter and licensed pyrotechnician from Townsend.
According to a GoFundMe page set up to pay for Shaw’s medical expenses, Shaw works full-time at the Groton Fire Department, and also works at the Harvard Fire Department, helps out at his parents’ tractor shop and is a federally certified pyrotechnician for Atlas.
“Wally is an incredibly hard-worker, family-oriented, selfless and kind,” GoFundMe author James Crocker wrote. “Wally is also an adventure seeker, a cat lover, and an old soul.”
As 7NEWS previously reported, firefighters responding to reports of an explosion at North Andover Middle School at 2:15 p.m. Sunday found that he had been injured by a shell explosion while setting up a fireworks display for the town, officials said. He was medflighted to a Boston hospital.
The GoFundMe page said that a rack he was loading had accidentally ignited, resulting in serious but non-life-threatening injuries to his upper body. He underwent multiple surgeries in Boston but additional surgeries will be likely before his recovery begins. The GoFundMe page notes that he will likely be out of work “for an extended period of time.”
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