Using Fireworks Safely
February 15, 2010 by
Filed under Security Tips
With every year that comes and goes, someone is injured trying to light fireworks or using sparklers to celebrate a holiday. While may states ban the use of fireworks as well as many countries, others permit them to be used without limits.
Making sure that fireworks are used safely can prevent injuries as well as house and wildfires.
The biggest problems seem to be the lighting of the fireworks as well as the extinguishing of them.
Prior to lighting fireworks read all of the safety warnings and do your best to adhere to them. Make sure that fireworks are lit on smooth surfaces so that they aren’t prone to tip over and shoot in the wrong direction.
Make sure that a water source, such as a bucket or tub of water is in the immediate vicinity of the fireworks. Keep those who are watching the fireworks safely back from the area where they are being lit. You can’t watch your fireworks as well as your viewers too. Don’t permit anyone who is not actively lighting fireworks to be within 12 feet of the area where you are lighting them. Children should be well back at all times.
Keep your garden hose running with a nozzle on it that will turn off. This way you have only a few inches to get a means to stop any small fire that may start from the fireworks. Keep clear of dry leaves or grass when lighting. While that sounds like common sense, it quite frequently happens that people don’t do that and light the lawn or leaves afire with their sparklers or fireworks.
If you have a firework that didn’t light or work. wait about ten minutes and then place it entirely into your bucket of water, making sure that it is completely submerged.
Light only one firework at a time, never five or six. If there are two adults lighting, alternate your lighting. Never permit anyone drinking alcohol, no matter how small the amount, to work with fireworks.
If you smoke, don’t do so around your fireworks, or use your cigarette or cigar to light them. Stay clear of the firework area when you have a lit cigarette. A single spark could cause a display that you’re not ready for.