Fireworks Becoming More Dangerous
This Fourth of July be extra cautious with the use of consumer fireworks. The legal limit of the amount of pyrotechnic material allowed in consumer fireworks has been increased. Most of these fireworks can be purchased at temporary roadside tents and set off in your backyard or driveway. According to the American Pyrotechnics Association, the use of backyard fireworks has more than doubled since 2000. That has caused concern among some public safety groups that the rise in both popularity and firepower could prove dangerous and result in injury or property damage.
Chief among recent innovations is the multi-shot aerial, shooting rockets of varying hues up to 100 yards in the air. Consumers can also find fireworks in a wider variety of colors, including magenta, lemonade and the difficult to create deep blue, along with effects that were once the sole purview of professionals, like rockets that burst into bow ties, stars and happy faces.
The growing use of fireworks has been helped by looser laws. Five states have changed laws to allow fireworks or relaxed such laws since 2000. Only Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts and Rhode Island still ban them completely.
Still, the National Fire Protection Association advocates a total ban on consumer fireworks. There is a general feeling that fireworks are too risky a product for the general public to use due to problems with fires starting when they hit buildings or dry, grassy areas.
With darkness and alcohol in the mix parents should be cautious in permitting children to participate in such backyard displays. In 2006, the risk of injury was two-and-a-half times greater for children aged 10-14 than for adults. Have a happy and safe Fourth of July.
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