Fourth of July Toll: Five Workers Dead

Martez Holland is lying in he burn unit at UNC Hospital in Chapel Hill, his body struggling to recover from third degree burns to his face, arms, and hands from a fireworks explosion on Ocracoke Island in North Carolina. He is the lucky one--four of his co-workers were killed in the July 4th incident, when the truck they were unloading exploded. Charles Kirkland died instantly. Mark Hill, Lisa Simmons, and Terry Holland were rushed to the hospital where they all perished.

The Ocracoke explosion was not the only July 4th worker disaster. In Quakertown, PA, 19 year old David Walker also died when a mortar exploded prematurely, sending wooden debris flying, killing the young man.

This year's Independence Day celebrations were the deadliest for workers since 2003, according to federal OSHA.