HAPPY 4TH OF JULY EVERYBODY! HOPE YOU DONT END UP LIKE THIS GUY! HE BLOWS HIS ARM OFF TRYING TO LIGHT A FUSE!

The holiday turned gruesome for a Long Island man when he blew off his arm while lighting illegal fireworks for friends and family Saturday, Suffolk County police said.
Eric Smith, 36, lost his left arm in the Independence Day weekend blast at his Islip Terrace home about 5:45 p.m., when the mortar he ignited went off before he could get out of the way, cops said.

Smith was leaning over a 3-foot-long metal tube used to launch the high-powered fireworks when it exploded, cops said.

The short-fused mortar completely severed Smith's arm from his shoulder, police said.

Relatives and friends grabbed the appendage, packed it in a cooler with ice and brought it to Southside Hospital in Bay Shore, where doctors were trying to reattach the limb last night, cops said.

Another person was transported to the hospital, but the reason wasn't immediately clear.

Police were weighing whether Smith would face criminal charges for possessing and igniting the fireworks, cops said.