This story was updated at 6:25 p.m. Sunday. An illegal fireworks explosion Saturday night, the Fourth of July, rocked a northeast Salem cul-de-sac and hospitalized five people, according to the Salem Police Department. Four were seriously injured in the blast, police spokesman Sgt. Jon Hardy s aid Sunday.  One of the victims initially faced “potentially life-threatening” injuries when emergency responders got to the scene, Nick Grice, Salem Fire Department battalion chief, said during a Sunday press conference. Three others had serious, but not life-threatening, injuries and one person suffered minor injuries. At least six cars and one home were damaged by the blast radius of over 60 feet, Hardy said. The victims, two women and three men, ranged in age from 34-67, with three identified as from Salem and one from Independence, police said. Although the explosion is under investigation, police said it was likely caused by illegal mortars “used outside of manufacturing guidelines,” the statement said. Mortars are a type of firework that launches shells from a tube stand. The explosion happened in the street of Northeast Prairie Star Court around 10:44 p.m., according to Hardy. Debris fell up to 80 yards away from the explosion site, he said. A neighbor, Mario, told Salem Reporter he was inside his home and said he could hear the explosions in the street and over his home, escalating and getting more extreme as the evening went on.But one explosion stood out.“I felt the shake, the moment that something happened,” Mario, who declined to share his last name for privacy, said.“I never heard something like that. It was very scary.”When he went outside, there were several people lying in the street, and glass everywhere. He doesn’t recall anyone screaming.The back window of the SUV across the street from his home was shattered during the blast.Mario’s home sits where the cul-de-sac starts to bend. His neighbor, Sergio Mondragon, also felt the explosion from several homes away, at the end of the cul-de-sac. Mondragon was watching “The Wedding Planner” during the loud display when the major explosion went off and his car alarm sounded. He went outside to see the back window of the car in his driveway had broken, with glass “everywhere.”He said first responders arrived within minutes.A caller initially reported the explosion to 911 as an unknown medical issue, Grice said Sunday. At first, only one medical unit went to the scene, but responders quickly called in reinforcements after learning multiple people were injured, according to Grice.  When officers arrived, people were visibly intoxicated from alcohol, Hardy said. Responders then took the injured people to a local hospital. Four ambulances, two fire engines and a battalion chief from the Salem Fire Department responded to the explosion.  “The battalion chief gathered some information and realized that there was some type of fireworks explosion,” Grice said. The battalion chief then requested a Salem fire deputy fire marshal, and contacted Salem police “as they work jointly in these types of things for potential either bomb squad or criminal investigations.” The Salem Police Bomb Squad did a “post-blast” investigation, which includes identifying and gathering evidence and making a diagram of the scene, Hardy said. Responders and investigators stayed on scene for more than five hours, dispatch records show. Salem police detectives from the Felony Crimes Unit are now leading an investigation into the incident, the statement said. No charges have been filed as of Sunday afternoon.Mario said he was praying for his neighbors’ recovery. He warned people away from illegal fireworks, and said he hopes people stick with what can be purchased at stores in Oregon. “This is a reminder for everybody. Be careful with those fireworks,” Mario said. In addition to the Sunday night incident, Hardy said the city received 40 fireworks-related calls, and detectives responded to 13 of them as part of a dedicated enforcement to more serious fire calls or injuries.  He said that officers were not patrolling to seek out and respond to illegal fireworks, and he did not know of any citations issued or fireworks seized during the holiday. Contact reporter Madeleine Moore: [email protected]. Contact reporter Abbey McDonald: [email protected] or 503-575-1251. SIGN UP: Subscribing to Salem Reporter helps sustain in-depth, local reporting that Salem depends on. Invest in your community’s news. Subscribe today. The post UPDATE: 5 injured by northeast Salem fireworks explosion appeared first on Salem Reporter. ...read more read less