Potato Drop Incident

Tweet

I have wondered about the outcome of the accident that occurred and when a new bit of info came out about this I thought I would share the story here: A young girl (she looked about 8 years old) had accompanied her parents to the New Year's Eve celebration we have in downtown Boise annually. Since 2013 they have a potato drop down by the city buildings. It is a 17- foot toughened fiberglass potato that weighs about 17,000 pounds. As most places they had fireworks going off after the drop and, on this night, there was a malfunction. Fireworks had exploded shattering a nearby window. The glass hit this young girl's face, and she was taken to the hospital. Her left eye was badly cut, and she went through three hours of surgery. She was released the next day on January 2, 2026. She is now at home recovering. A Go Fund Me has been set up to help support the family with medical costs and other recovery issues. The fund has raised somewhere in the neighborhood of $26,000 so far. The cause of the explosion has been under investigation by the Boise Police and Fire Department. The organizers did obtain permits for the pyrotechnics, and no further information is known. I am hopeful that they decide to hold this celebration further away from any buildings next time and that the potato drop can continue.