At the conclusion of the Fourth of July fireworks celebration at the Ocean Beach Pier, something happened that led OB resident Chris Bowd to be knocked unconscious. Bowd remains in a medically induced coma, according to reports, and friends and family are struggling for answers. The case has left many baffled and, to some degree, brings into focus the issue of safety in Ocean Beach during the Fourth of July holiday. A post on the OB Rag blog by Frank Gormlie on July 8 first reported the Bowd incident. OB Rag has been tracking the situation ever since, with more than 55 comments from community members and friends of Bowd, offering support for his family and trying to gain any information. Thus far, no definitive information has surfaced. According to Gormlie, Bowd is in an induced coma — unconscious, but stable and under heavy sedation as of July 15. Bowd, 40, has lived in OB for four or five years and is an assistant research scientist at the University of California, San Diego’s Hamilton Glaucoma Center in La Jolla. According to San Diego Police Department (SDPD) officials, dispatchers received a call on July 4 at about 11 p.m. from a citizen saying he encountered an unconscious man on the 1800 block of Bacon Street. Police and paramedics responded to the call and attended to Bowd. Police spokesperson Mónica Muñoz said Bowd smelled of alcohol and police on the scene thought he had fallen and injured himself. On July 7, a friend of Bowd’s contacted SDPD’s Western Division to see if authorities were doing an investigation. Police officials said they were unaware of the situation and assigned a detective to handle it. The detective has asked questions of Bowd’s girlfriend — who police are not identifying — because she reportedly was the last person to have known Bowd who could have seen what happened that night. Because the girlfriend was apparently not with Bowd at the time of the incident — according to a blog note by Gormlie — the interview shed little light on the case. Investigators said they have determined that Bowd was not robbed but that they are still puzzled as to what caused his injury. “So far it’s a big mystery,” Muñoz said. “But, of course, we are still investigating and interested in information.” Anyone with information associated with the case is encouraged to call Western Division at (619) 692-4800 or San Diego County Crime Stoppers at (858) 580-8477. There is up to a $1,000 reward for information and callers can remain anonymous. This Bowd case might illustrate the growing concern some residents are now expressing on the OB Rag blog about safety in the immediate vicinity of the beach on the Fourth of July following the fireworks show. An event that follows the show — the time during which Bowd was reportedly injured — is the traditional marshmallow fight. The marshmallow fight began in 1985 as a friendly rivalry between the Grosch and Zounes families, who hosted rival Fourth of July holiday parties in Ocean Beach. Grosch lived on Saratoga Avenue and Zounes lived on Muir Avenue. Grosch told The Beacon in 2002 that his friends and family from Saratoga Avenue were sitting near Tower Two on Ocean Beach, ready to roast marshmallows, when they found a better use for them. They threw marshmallows at the Zounes party down the beach. A year later, Grosch moved to Muir Avenue near Zounes, and the Muirs got their revenge with a new onslaught of marshmallows. The marshmallow fight has been a post-fireworks tradition in Ocean Beach ever since. Over the years, however, there is growing concern the marshmallow fight has escalated out of control. Ocean Beach MainStreet Association executive director Denny Knox said the event should probably be scaled back a little bit. “Every year it’s different — it depends who the players are,” Knox said. “I think they’re going to have to police themselves a little more carefully and agree to take it down a couple of notches.” It is unclear whether security measures may be stepped up following the OB Fourth of July fireworks celebration and ensuing marshmallow fight as a result of the Bowd case. Ocean Beach MainStreet Association, the business improvement district, puts on the fireworks show and Knox said there are no immediate plans to do so. “We’re not going to take any steps until we find out what actually happened, because then we’re trying to solve a problem and we don’t know what the problem really is,” Knox said. “Until we know more, I don’t see us coming up with anything.”