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PWTorch.com reader Mark Freedman sent the following report on the fireworks mishap at WrestleMania's conclusion last night...

Wade, I was sitting in the upper deck (Sec 311) where the fireworks incident occurred and was nearly hit by missile like firework canisters that had apparently broken off a cable at the top of the stadium. The worst of it was in Sec 316, but at least one of the projectiles flew all the way across the third deck and landed in the second deck near Sec 205.  

At the initial moment it happened (as the Undertaker celebrated his victory), I saw the firework canisters flying and landing into the ground and one passed me by within two or three feet of where I was standing ; I was shocked and thought what the f--- are they (WWE) doing?!

The upper deck (cheap seats at $40 a pop) was densely packed and there was no going anywhere besides ducking. I looked up high over Sec 316 and saw where a cable with the fireworks canisters has obviously snapped and within a minute, it was all over.

I shuttered to to think if there had been a more serious problem, or there had been a mass panic to get off the deck. To get off the third deck, one has to take a narrow escalator or a hidden service elevator that's used for the disabled; there are no visible emergency signs and there are no apparent stairs, emergency or otherwise.

I hung around after the show, and there was a line-up of people waiting to get on the escalator for a good 45 minutes - hate to think what it would like if they had been in a panic.   Apparently the third deck was added in the 1980s to increase capacity, but I was appalled by the obvious lack of safety features - it reminded me of the tragedy at the Station nightclub in Rhode Island where a fire started after some pyro went astray and 100 people died as they tried to escape.

After the incident occurred, it took over 20 minutes for two emergency responders to show up.  I observed several people with burns, including a little boy who was holding a cold bottle of water to a burn on his face.  There was an older woman who didn't appear burned, but was having breathing problems and and they attended to her first while the boy was in pain holding the bottle to his face. It was clear there was insufficient responders - and I was further incensed that nobody from WWE came by except for a technician who picked up some pyro debris and quickly left the area.

While hindsight is 20/20, even before the pryo malfunction, I was concerned by the close proximity of the fireworks as they had strung the launchers all around the stadium attached to fixtures above the third deck.

The choreography was impressive and the fireworks completely surrounding the audience made for a stunning 3D effect, but it's apparent that entertainment considerations trumped any concerns for safety and even if the concept was deemed to be safe, they should not have done it in an old stadium where modern safety infrastructure is sorely lacking and they should have factored in the weather; there was a fair amount of wind with strong gusts that probably contributed to the wire snapping.  

Just because I paid for the cheap seats doesn't mean that Mr. McMahon should treat me like one of his wrestlers and put my life at risk for the sake of the show.

If anyone else attended WrestleMania in person and can send details regarding the fireworks mishap or any other live observations, we welcome you to send them in for future posts.

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