GILMER, Texas — The July 2023 death of an Upshur County man in a fireworks explosion has been ruled an accident, according to a final Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives report.
Jared Maddox was killed and four other people injured in the explosion that occurred about 10:30 a.m. July 4, 2023, at the Firehouse 9 Farm event venue in Gilmer.
He owned the venue and was licensed as a pyrotechnics operator, allowing him to prepare fireworks shows there. Maddox, 58, was a Longview firefighter from 1988 to 2016.
Read more from the Longview News-Journal.