For almost 80 years, it was illegal in Iowa to buy, sell, or use fireworks privately. The reason fireworks were banned for so long was because of a massive fire caused by fireworks in a small Iowa town.

It was 92 years ago today that a terrible fire took place in the Iowa town of Spencer. It didn’t help that the weather was hot even for an Iowa summer, according to Jeff Stein and the Iowa Almanac. The temperature in Spencer in northwest Iowa topped off at 97°. The lack of recent rain made things dry, as well.

The story goes that there was a large fireworks display in the front window of Bjornstad’s Drugstore at the corner of Fourth and Main, downtown. A little boy took an interest in the display, which was not uncommon. What happened next was quite uncommon.

Let’s hope we don’t get a rerun…