This could have been the work of a cherry bomb.
Richard Peck, A Long Way from Chicago(1998)
In Northeast Washington, a 15-year-old boy holding a cherry bomb was severely burned and lost a thumb when it exploded, the fire department said.
Washington Post(Jul 05, 2016)
There was no button for “cherry bomb,” which is what the teachers invested a lot of energy preparing for at my old school.
Gordon Korman, Ungifted(2012)