Richtee Posted July 6, 2023 Share Posted July 6, 2023 ... I guess. 4 people dead over the weekend thru Tues night. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2023/07/05/july-4th-2023-firework-deaths-injuries-by-state/70383896007/ Dumbest one... Altho “homemade tube” is called out in the article, the tube had nothing to do with it. The bonehead had a commercial ematch shell...thought he could just cut the end off the (quickmatch) fuse and light it. The world might not get it, but I nominate him for a “Pyro Darwin” award. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThrownBiscuit Posted July 6, 2023 Share Posted July 6, 2023 Always a tragedy, but yes, I second the nomination for a "Pyro Darwin" award. It's part of the reason why I try emphasizing proper pyro safety to friends and acquaintances. They don't have to listen, but I've done my bit. Watch for line of fire. Keep fireworks out of reach of sparks and open flames, (keeping them in lidded containers until immediately before launch works well). Know your fuses but be cautious some fuses that look the same have much quicker burn rates than others. Do not relight fuses. Keep large quantities of water on hand. Do not use fireworks where there is great danger of setting the location on fire. (For example, do not use fireworks in a pine forest in the midst of a drought like some imbeciles I saw some years back. The volunteer fire dept. was not amused.) Fireworks are inherently awesome but are also dangerous. When I let my niece help set off fireworks, I use a remote electronic ignition system and before I go to prepare more fireworks for launch, I disconnect the wires from the terminals and pull the batteries out of the firing unit. I carry the batteries with me as an additional precaution. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arthur Posted July 7, 2023 Share Posted July 7, 2023 Four people dead from a population of 350 million is probably less than those that died in the same time from pre-diagnosed terminal disease, or from car crashes. So actually fireworks in general is not too bad a pastime. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SharkWhisperer Posted July 12, 2023 Share Posted July 12, 2023 The US CPSC 2022 report on fireworks injuries is available since June at: https://www.cpsc.gov/s3fs-public/2022-Fireworks-Annual-Report.pdf Interesting reading, especially the case reports. Like the 17 y/o kid who blew himself and his buddy up in the garage, with the fire then proceeding to take the whole family house down. Plenty of folks still putting mortars on their heads for giggles, ffs. And looking down malfunctioning mortars. And loading shells upside down... CPSC also did a demo in DC a little while ago where they used dummies to demonstrate fireworks injuries. That's available on the Twit at: https://twitter.com/USCPSC/status/1674394588348395520 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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