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In this July 30, 2018 photo, revelers play in and around a huge burning papier mache bull full of exploding fireworks, in the Santiago Teyuhalco neighborhood of Tultepec, Mexico. Last year there were 40 fireworks accidents in the State of Mexico, where Tultepec is located, that claimed 24 lives and injured more than 100, according to the governmental Mexican Institute of Pyrotechnics; through July 5 of this year, there have been 16 accidents with 40 dead and more than 70 hurt. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)

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In this Aug. 1, 2018 photo, an owl stands in a ventilation opening at one of the many fireworks workshops in Tultepec, Mexico. Tultepec, about an hour's drive north of downtown Mexico City, is famous as the fireworks production capital of the country, a place where there's always a sulfurous whiff to the air, "no smoking" signs are ubiquitous and untold thousands of multi-generation families make a living hand-crafting the explosives. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)

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In this Aug. 1, 2018 photo, Lazaro Luna makes fireworks at his family workshop in Tultepec, Mexico. Lazaro Luna fills them with a powder made of coal, aluminum and other chemical compounds. The tubes are later dipped in wax and fixed to metal structures to create what are known as "castles," pyrotechnic displays that can take any shape from the figure of a saint to whatever the imagination decides. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)

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In this Aug. 1, 2018 photo, a box full of gunpowder is set out to dry under the sun at the Luna family workshop in Tultepec, Mexico. According to the governmental Mexican Institute of Pyrotechnics, more permits have been issued for the manufacture, storage and sale of fireworks in Tultepec than any other municipality in the State of Mexico, which surrounds the capital on three sides. However there is no record of home workshops that are off the books without no oversight or regulation by authorities, and those can be the most dangerous operations. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)

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In this Aug. 1, 2018 photo, Noe Luna shows a handful of fireworks he prepared called Lluvia de Luna, or "Moon Rain" in English, at his workshop in Tultepec, Mexico. "It is an art of doing things, of knowing how to mix the products with the certainty that they are fine, to create a figure," Luna said. "When the public applauds you for the work they have just seen, that is good, you feel proud." (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)

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In this Aug. 1, 2018 photo, fireworks maker Noe Luna holds a "bomb" at his workshop in Tultepec, Mexico. Luna's licensed workshop has three separate areas for raw materials, for manufacturing and for storing the finished product. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)

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In this July 30, 2018 photo, revelers move a huge papier-mache bull, stuffed full of fireworks, through the streets of the Santiago Teyahualco neighborhood of Tultepec, Mexico. The "Torito" will be set alight in the celebrations in honor of the Roman Catholic saint Santiago Apostol, and it will accompanied with parades and celebrations culminating with burnings of the explosive "torito," which takes its name from their bull-shaped frames mounted on wheels, covered in paper and painted with colorful designs. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)

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In this July 30, 2018 photo, revelers move a huge papier-mache bull, stuffed full of fireworks, through the streets of the Santiago Teyuhalco neighborhood of Tultepec, Mexico. Local pride in Tultepec's pyro-culture is evident in a youth project to organize art exhibits and concerts celebrating fireworks and even producing illustrated manuals on how to set them off safely. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)

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In this July 30, 2018 photo, revelers play in and around a huge burning papier-mache bull full of exploding fireworks, in Santiago Teyuhalco, Tultepec, Mexico. To wild applause and cries of "Fire! Fire!" the "toritos" erupted in sparks that rained down on many in the crowd, but nobody seemed to be fazed. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)

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In this July 30, 2018 photo, revelers play in and around a huge burning papier-mache bull full of exploding fireworks, in Santiago Teyuhalco, Mexico. In March, the newspaper El Universal reported that 549 people were injured at another burning in Tultepec, mostly minor burns and bruises, though one young man was hospitalized with second-degree burns. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)

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In this Aug. 1, 2018 photo, Luis Enrique Urban Gomez recovers in bed at his home after suffering third-degree through most of his body during an accidental explosion at La Saucera fireworks workshop where he worked, in Tultepec, Mexico. He was tidying up at his family's fireworks storage shed like any other day when an explosion ripped through the warehouse next door, killing its owner and wounding seven others. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)

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FILE - In this July 6, 2018 file photo, a firefighter comforts another during a memorial for firefighters who died in the explosion of several fireworks workshops in Tultepec, Mexico. Twenty-four people were killed and at least 49 injured when a series of explosions ripped through fireworks workshops in a town just north of Mexico City, according to officials. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)

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FILE - In this July 5, 2018 file photo, a soldier guards the perimeter around the wreckage of several fireworks workshops in Tultepec, Mexico. More than a dozen people were killed and at least 40 injured when a series of explosions ripped through fireworks workshops in a town just north of Mexico City. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo, File)

Despite deadly explosions, Mexican fireworks capital endures

By Associated Press AP

PUBLISHED 2:01 PM ET May. 09, 2019

TULTEPEC, Mexico (AP) — Luis Enrique Urban Gomez was tidying up at his family's fireworks storage shed like any other day when an explosion ripped through the warehouse next door, killing its owner, leaving Urban with burns and wounding seven others.

Nearly two months later, lying on a bed in his parents' home with angry red scars on nearly his entire body, the 20-year-old was itching to be back in business making fireworks just as soon as his wounds are fully healed.

"In spite of it all, it is a pleasure," Urban said. "It is a job with tradition."

Urban's hometown of Tultepec is famous as the fireworks production capital of Mexico, a place where there's always a sulfurous smell, "no smoking" signs are ubiquitous and thousands of multi-generation families hand-craft the explosives.