Pittsfield teen convicted of 13 felonies for 2022 Pulaski-area bonfire explosion
SHAWANO – A Pittsfield teen was convicted Monday of 13 felony charges for causing a bonfire explosion that injured at least 17 people in 2022.
Samuel Armstrong, 18, pleaded no contest to all charges against him of causing injury by negligent handling of a dangerous weapon, explosives or fire. A no contest plea means he accepts a guilty verdict without admitting or denying guilt.
Armstrong's sentencing is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. April 11 in Shawano County Circuit Court. Each charge carries a maximum penalty of 3½ years in prison, $10,000 in fines, or both.
The bonfire explosion occurred the night of Oct. 15, 2022. Seventeen people went to area hospitals with injuries, while the total number of people who were injured in the explosion is unknown.
Some of those injured suffered second- and third-degree burns and had to be treated at hospitals in Milwaukee and Madison.
According to a criminal complaint, victims and witnesses told investigators around 40 people had been at a bonfire at a home on Cedar Drive in Maple Grove, in Shawano County.
In the large fire, wooden pallets and eventually tires were burned. Bonfire attendees told investigators there was underage drinking, the complaint says. To keep the fire going, attendees said, contents of a 55-gallon blue drum partially filled with a diesel-fuel mixture were sprayed into the fire.
Shortly before 11 p.m., Armstrong and a second person threw the entire drum onto the fire, causing the explosion, the complaint says.
Many attendees were current and former students of the Pulaski School District.
Armstrong is named in multiple civil lawsuits, filed by injured bonfire attendees and their parents. Also named in the lawsuits are another teenager who helped Armstrong throw the fuel drum on the fire and the owner of the property where the bonfire took place.
Those lawsuits are ongoing.
Rebecca Loroff contributed to this report.
Kelli Arseneau can be reached at 920-213-3721 or karseneau@gannett.com. Follow her on X at @ArseneauKelli.
This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: Pittsfield teen convicted in 2022 Pulaski-area bonfire explosion