911 calls recount Boone Lake firework mishap

PINEY FLATS — In the span of 10 minutes, at least nine people picked up the phone to alert Sullivan County 911 of the firework mishap at Boone Lake last weekend.Through a public records request, Six Rivers Media obtained audio files for each of the completed calls. The length of each call ranged anywhere from nearly three minutes to a brief 24 seconds.What happenedEight people were injured following the firework mishap at Boone Lake last week, according to the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency.A release from TWRA shared Friday states that two people were seriously injured and six had minor injuries.Video footage shows fireworks being shot from a barge on the lake for several seconds before all going off at the same time.The marina shared a social media update Saturday following the aftermath of the event, thanking the first responders and other involved agencies."We want to extend our heartfelt thanks to all the first responders and to everyone that has reached out with their thoughts and prayers," the post states. "We are relieved to share that everyone is safe and doing well."Calls come inThe first call came in at 9:51 p.m. that evening, six minutes after the firework show was scheduled to start. This caller reported a boat at the marina "set off a bunch of fireworks" at the boat level, and that people were jumping into the water.The dispatcher asked if the boat was on fire, to which the caller said no."So everything's okay?" the dispatcher asked."No, no. The firework barge — all the fireworks blew at the boat level," the caller said."Okay, but is anything on fire?" the dispatcher asked."Nothing's on fire, but the people jumped in the water like it's not supposed to happen," the caller responded.The caller said they could hear yelling while watching the show from their house."People are going with their boats to figure out what's going on," the caller said. "It was not supposed to happen."After the dispatcher said they would send some responders out to the scene, the caller stressed it was an emergency and that they thought people were injured.Second callA second call came in at 9:53 p.m., around two minutes after the first call came in. This caller said they were on a boat in the water at Boone Lake as the fireworks were going off.The dispatcher asked if the caller knew anything about injuries. The caller said they saw at least three or four people on the barge before the mishap."We don't know," the caller said. "We're just looking because they had an accident with the fireworks and they went off into the water. I think people are in the water; we're trying to find them."During the call, fireworks can still be heard going off behind the caller."Again, this is at Boone Lake Marina, and some of [the fireworks] are still going off," the caller said."OK, we've got someone on the way out there," the dispatcher said.Back-to-back callsCalls three through six came in within seconds of each other, according to the audio file record. Each of these calls lasted an average of 34 seconds, relaying similar information to the previous calls about the situation.The dispatcher pressed for information from each caller to try to understand the magnitude of what happened."Do you have any more information? Because we're getting several calls and we don't really know what's going on," the dispatcher asked.One caller said they were watching from the marina parking lot. The dispatcher told the caller to keep themselves safe and that responders were getting there as quickly as possible.By 9:57 p.m., the eighth caller said they were near the barge and called for an ambulance for those injured by the fireworks.The caller said one man looked like he was burned and disoriented to the point he could not see. She also said many fireworks were kicked off the barge in effort to stop them from igniting.A final caller dialed Sullivan County 911 around 10:01 p.m. Very quickly the caller said they heard the sirens of first responder vehicles arriving on scene and thanked the dispatcher for sending help.