Girl, 9, suffers ‘life-altering’ injuries from illegal explosive device in Kensington home

A 9-year-old girl was in critical condition Monday with “life-altering” injuries a day after she found an “improvised explosive device" similar to fireworks that exploded in her hands inside a Kensington home, Philadelphia police said.

The girl underwent surgery Monday at St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children for “severe and devastating” cuts and burns to her chest, face, torso, eyes, and both hands, according to Capt. Mark Burgmann, commanding officer of the Special Victims Unit.

Police were called to the home in the 1800 block of East Wishart Street at 10:36 a.m. Sunday in response to screams, Burgmann said at a news conference. When officers arrived, the girl was already en route to the hospital by private vehicle, then was transferred to a police vehicle, he said. A younger sister was in another room and was not injured, he said.

“It shouldn’t have been in her hands to begin with,” Burgmann said of the device.

They said it was unclear whether the girl had lit the device or if it detonated while being handled.

Detective Tim Brooks of the bomb disposal unit said the girl found one of two devices her father had purchased the previous night from a man on the street. Her father detonated one that night, and left the second on a mantel inside the house, where the girl found it after her mother left to go shopping, officials said.

Brooks said the devices were not purchased legally and it was a violation of federal and state law to have them. No one has been charged in the incident. Authorities said the investigation is ongoing.

The devices are “inherently dangerous,” Brooks said, because they aren’t subjected to quality control or imported legally. Some of the devices — sensitive to heat, shock, and friction — don’t have to be lit to explode, and could detonate by being banged or shaken, he said.

On the street, the devices often are called “quarter sticks of dynamite,” but they are not dynamite, Brooks said.

With the July Fourth holiday looming, similar incidents happened June 4 and June 25, he said.

“This time of year, we see a significant increase in the use of these,” he said.