WICHITA, Kan. (KAKE) - Some people are recovering after being injured at fireworks tents around Wichita Tuesday night during a strong thunderstorm.

We talked to one man this afternoon who was right back at work selling fireworks on Wednesday.

Staff Sergeant Thomas Heatherdale was working at the fireworks tent at Central at West. The tent is a fundraiser for the 22nd Maintenance Squadron with McConnell. He was trying to clear the tent when the storm rolled through.

“The first gust, when it blew the entire tent, I honestly thought we were in a tornado,” said Staff Sergeant Thomas Heatherdale.

Heatherdale reacted to the storm coming through Tuesday. Volunteering at a fireworks tent, he quickly sprang into action so fast, he hit his head on a pole.

“It hurt a little bit, it didn't feel too great. I would never recommend anybody running into a pole,” said Heatherdale.

He was trying to save everything he could from the incoming storm when it happened.

“As I was running outside of the tent, I was trying to grab the important electronics for our cash registers, and it started to slightly move down and I didn't notice it as I was running out, and I ran straight into it,” said Heatherdale.

Winds 60-70 miles per hour took the tent down.  

“All the stakes that are holding the tent down completely just popped out of the ground and the entire tent just started falling over,” said Heatherdale.

There were no other injuries when the tent fell. Heatherdale says, after the storms ended at 9 Tuesday night, the tent repair crew got it back up within three hours.

They even cleaned out all the damaged fireworks. Now it’s like the storm never happened, with new fireworks ready to sell.

“We're open again, even though our tent was collapsed we're open again. Come buy from us. It directly supports us,” said Heatherdale.

Heatherdale did go to urgent care to get checked out. He's fine and will be selling fireworks with a fellow airman until midnight on the 4th of July.