It was a busy Fourth of July for emergency workers in Wichita as fireworks mishaps sent twice the normal number of people to area hospitals, including one fatality, and caused numerous fires.

A 4-year-old Rooks County boy died in the Via Christi-St. Francis hospital burn unit and his 7-year-old brother was critically injured when firecrackers the two boys were popping near their home in Woodston ignited a nearby vehicle gasoline tank, which exploded.

The two boys were taken by ambulance to Hays and then flown to Wichita.

“In my 24 years of law enforcement, I don’t think there’s been a fatality that’s involved with fireworks,” said Rooks County Sheriff Roger Mongeau, who didn’t release the boys’ names.

In total, hospital officials said they treated 26 patients with fireworks-related burns, or about double the normal number, with five requiring admission. The victims ranged in age from 11 months to 52 years.

Among them was Tony Watts, 28, who was gravely injured and remains in critical condition when a homemade mortar he was lighting exploded, striking him in the face.

This Wichita garage was destroyed Tuesday night after fireworks set it ablaze. It was a busy Fourth of July for emergency workers in Wichita as fireworks mishaps sent twice the normal number of people to area hospitals. A 4-year-old boy was killed when firecrackers ignited a nearby vehicle gasoline tank.

Sedgwick County sheriff’s Lt. George Mason said it appears Watts was using illegal fireworks. He said Watts built a launcher by embedding a three-inch plastic pipe in a five-gallon bucket of cement.

Mason said his office sees accidents like that every couple of years in the county, usually involving homemade devices.

Watts’ wife, Emily Watts, said she wouldn’t have let him set off the fireworks if she’d known he was using a commercial-grade device. She said she now plans to speak out against fireworks.

“He acts like a kid around them, but he’s always been safe,” she said of her husband. “I never thought he would ever be lying in an ICU bed hooked up to machines.”

Wichita already has banned unlicensed use of almost anything that fires a projectile higher than a roof. But local fire officials said they may push next year for the Legislature to prohibit the use of devices that shoot fiery balls into the air, such as mortars and Roman candles.

“Those are really dangerous,” said Wichita fire prevention chief Bob Thompson. “If we can get those banned statewide, we’d probably be in pretty good shape.”

When crews weren’t rescuing fireworks victims, they were chasing fires caused by fireworks.

At least three major fires occurred Tuesday night, the largest destroying a house in the Crown Heights neighborhood.

Investigators said they found evidence around the house of bottle rockets, which are illegal in the state.