The Fourth of July really is nothing without fireworks, but unfortunately too many people don’t leave the exploding displays to the
professionals, which results in lots of accidents this time of year, many of them deadly.
According to a report by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) last year, more than 10,000 people were injured by fireworks, with 11 people actually dying.
The CPSC reports three of the victims who died were bystanders who weren’t involved in setting off the fireworks at all. In addition, children under the age of 15 had the highest rate of injury last year. And it doesn’t even have to be something huge to cause harm. Last year, 23-percent of all injuries were the result of simple sparklers or rockets.
The CPSC offers these tips to safely enjoy fireworks this July Fourth holiday.
•Make sure the fireworks are legal for your area.
•Don’t allow children to play or ignite fireworks, including sparklers, which can burn up to 2,000 degrees.
•Don’t buy fireworks in brown paper bags, which usually means they are for professional displays.
•Don’t put your body directly over a device before lighting the fuse, and back away immediately once it’s lit.
•Keep lots of water handy in case of fire.
•Don’t try and relight or handle a malfunctioning firework. Put them in water and then throw them out.
•Never point or throw fireworks at anybody.
•Light fireworks one at a time and move away quickly.
•Once fireworks are finished going off, douse them in plenty of water before discarding.
Source: CPSC.gov
