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Before putting on any fireworks
show,
review and memorize these safety tips:
- Keep fireworks away from
watermelons, dolls and mannequins. The dangers of allowing fireworks near these
objects are clearly demonstrated every year on television around
the 4th of July. We have all learned to keep our firecrackers
out of the reach of hungry watermelons, and to dutifully put
away all our dolls and mannequins before using fireworks.
- Buy only legal consumer
fireworks. Do not buy
illegal fireworks such as "M-80s" or large display
fireworks.
- Use fireworks only in a
wide-open area, well
away from any buildings, vehicles, or vegetation.
- Do not use fireworks near
houses. The best places
to use them are:
A large, empty dirt lot.
A beach (if fireworks are allowed there).
A large, empty parking lot (if the property owner gives you permission).
An island in the middle of a river.
A desert area or other wide-open place, well away from cars,
buildings or trees.
- Do not use fireworks on
grass or any soft, uneven ground.
Only use fireworks on hard, flat, level surfaces. This is very
important, to prevent the fireworks from tipping over.
- Bring a large (4 x 8 foot) piece of plywood with
you to use as a firing pad, if you will not be lighting the fireworks
on pavement.
- Only an adult (18 or older) may light the fireworks.
Children must only watch.
- Have a flashlight and a bucket of water handy
at all times. If you have a fire extinguisher, of course, have
it handy as well. But a bucket of water is enough.
- Keep the spectators at
least 50 feet away
from the firing location.
- Always keep the spectators
upwind of the firing
location. Any wind must be blowing from the spectators
towards the firing location.
- Always wear safety goggles
when lighting fireworks. You
can buy safety goggles at any hardware store.
- Follow the instructions printed on each item. Read these instructions
well in advance.
- Keep the fireworks in a
box that you can easily
open and close. Take only one item out at a time, and close the
box after you take each item out. This is called the "ready
box" in professional displays. The box must remain closed
so that any falling sparks will not hit the fireworks inside.
- Place each firework within
a concrete block before lighting it. Or, you can glue the fireworks down onto wooden
boards or tape them onto flattened cardboard boxes in advance.
This is very important, to prevent the fireworks from tipping
over during their performance.
- Multi-shot "cakes"
should be glued down
or taped down, ideally. If you do not have time to do this, use
a concrete block or a set of 4 concrete blocks placed in a square.
Set each cake inside the block(s).
- Reloadable shells should all be pre-loaded into their
mortar tubes in advance of the show. If you attempt to reload
tubes during the show, you will be very frustrated and you will
slow down the pace of the show. This will require buying a lot
of extra tubes, but it will make for a much better show. Stopping
the show to reload tubes will create "dead space" in
your show and boredom in your audience.
- Never use PVC pipe for
launching fireworks.
Use either the cardboard launching tube that came in the box
with the fireworks, or use mortar tubes which are specifically
designed for fireworks and are made of HDPE (high density polyethylene)
or fiberglass. The problem with PVC is that if there is an explosion
in the mortar tube, PVC has a tendency to shatter into razor-sharp
pieces, while the other types (HDPE, fiberglass or cardboard)
do not. Stay away from PVC.
- Ground spinners such as "Ground Gloom Flower,"
etc. need a large, flat, smooth, hard, level surface to work.
The same goes for traveling novelty items such as "Tanks,"
etc. Bring a large board if no hard, flat surface is at the shooting
site.
- Flying Spinners and helicopters such as "Plane
Flying at Night," etc., need a flat, smooth, hard, level
surface to spin on before they lift off. Make sure the printed
side is up and the fuse is underneath a wing. Do not stand them
on end.
- Skyrockets must be launched from a narrow tube
or a rack designed for them, not from your hand or by sticking
them into the ground.
- Roman Candles must be set in a stable rack or other
support. Do not hold roman candles in your hand!
- Light only one item at
a time. If you want
more than one item to go off, fuse them together in advance of
the show so that you have to light only one fuse. Don't try to
light a bunch of fuses in a row.
- Do not light fireworks
inside any container
that was not specifically designed for this purpose.
- Light the firework with
a long-handled lighter
such as for barbecues, or a jumbo punk or a road flare.
- Keep your body away from
the firework and reach
out to light the fuse.
- Do not have your body close to the firework. Do not have your hand close
to the fuse as you light it.
- Step back after lighting the fuse, to at least
10 feet away from the firework you just lit.
- Never, ever, look into
a tube that has a shell
loaded into it, and never place any part of your body over a
tube.
- Don't try to re-light a
dud. Just forget it
and go on to the next item.
- If you have sparklers, ask everyone to drop their sparklers
into a bucket of water when they finish.
- Children who want to hold
sparklers must do so
only with their parents' supervision at all times.
- Always clean up the area
after the show. Don't
leave a bunch of trash behind.
For more saftey tips, visit the National Council on Fireworks Safety.
There's much more to see at my home
page.
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