Members of the bomb squad and first responders in hazmat gear were called to a Seattle apartment building on Wednesday morning, after an explosion in the Lower Queen Anne neighbourhood, startling local residents.
The explosion occurred when a man in a basement unit was handling fireworks, police told local news station KING5, prompting an evacuation.
The individual was taken to Harborview Medical Center with serious injury to his hands, police added.
Police were called about the explosion at around 9.37.
The injured man’s roomate told local station KIRO7 the explosion shocked him.
“I removed myself from the building, a bomb went off or an explosive, just something very loud or unnatural and unnormal realizing it was in a unit or in or around mine, I removed myself from the building,” the man said.
Local residents watched on as heavily armoured bomb squad personnel worked at the scene.
“A dramatic Wed[nesday] – stuck in my apt while the bomb squad investigates an explosion across the street,” Twitter user Theresa Perkins wrote.
Traffic around the area was rerouted and the Pacific Science Center delayed opening as police investigated the blast.
By 11.40am, the Seattle Fire Department said it was reducing its presence on the scene to a few units.
On social media, some initially speculated the blast came from a bomb occuring on the 30th anniversary of the end of the Waco siege.
