Two teens die in Ashland County after makeshift fireworks explodes

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A small town in northwest Wisconsin is mourning the deaths of two teens in a fireworks mishap.

Aaron Granger, 19, and Rodney Blakeman, 17, died late Sunday night near Marengo.

Ashland County authorities said they were trying to blow a 55-gallon drum into the air, when an improvised fireworks device went off prematurely. It happened on a gravel bar in the Brunsweiller River.

Sheriff John Kovach said the two were apparently the only ones who built the device – so he does not expect criminal charges.

Blakeman would have been a senior at nearby Ashland High School this fall, and Granger graduated there in 2007.

Superintendent Peggy Smith said both were good students, and school counselors are determining a proper response to help the other students once they return to class in about a month.

Smith says it’s a close-knit community, and everybody feels the loss.

A joint funeral service for Blakeman and Granger will take place Thursday.

Tags: wisconsin news, homemade, fireworks, deaths