How To Use Consumer Fireworks
Having been privileged in his youth to witness the entire inventory of a fireworks sales stand detonate within a three minute period — and blow away the stand itself as well as a couple of digits formerly appended to the hands of the teenaged entrepreneurs who ran the emporium cum pyrotechnic display — DrHGuy is confident that his lifetime quota of appreciating fireworks has been met so he won’t be joining you for those trial and error determinations of just how long one can grasp a lit M-80 before hurling it away to ignite in midair or to check out those non-exploding duds (AKA bombs with long fuses).
Obligatory (Lack Of) Safety Facts
The National Fire Protection Association tracks damage wrought by fireworks annually; the current summary of these findings provides interesting if not surprising reading. Highlights include
- In 2004, 9,600 people were treated at hospital emergency rooms for fireworks-related injuries.
- Five out of six (85 percent) of those 9,600 injuries involved fireworks that federal regulations permit consumers to use.
- From 1998 to 2002, eight people per year, on average, were killed in fires started by fireworks. Six people per year, on average, were killed directly by fireworks.
- In 2003, fires started by fireworks caused $58 million in direct property damage to structures.
Recommendation For Fireworks Safety Month
DrHGuy does grasp the focus on prevention that he assumes is the rationale for June being designated Fireworks Safety Month, but does anyone else think that making it Fireworks Safety Month-And-A-Quarter or Fireworks Safety Five Weeks and including the Fourth Of July holiday might be a good idea?
The Special Sparkler
DrHGuy has always been fascinated by the permissive attitude toward sparklers, which are legal even in states such as Illinois, which otherwise forbids almost every other form of fireworks that go bang, and which are preferentially given to children.1
Sparklers can burn at temperatures up to 1800°F2 and were the leading cause of all injuries in the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission 2002 Report. On the other hand, other reports only rank sparklers as the second or third leading cause of fireworks injuries.
If You Must
Nonetheless, if you get off on the unique odor formed by the combination of discharged gunpowder and singed flesh (soon to be marketed under the trade name “Smells Like Victory”) or if personally setting off fireworks is a moral imperative for you or a loved one, it would be a good idea to read these web pages before the first flick of your Bic:
- General Fireworks Safety Tips
- Fireworks Eye Safety & First Aid
- Category-specific Instructions For Using Consumer Fireworks
Cool, Loud, Flashy, Colorful Computer Fireworks Display
Finally, for anyone who has a rudimentary capacity for sublimation, the funnest of the animated fireworks web pages DrHGuy has found thus far is the Fireworks Site. (Requires Java-enabled browser)
Footnotes
