As July 4th quickly approaches, so does the sudden desire to purchase a truckload of fireworks and shoot them off in your designated firework area. Of course, if you live in Florida, you understand that this area has a long-standing tradition of celebrating July 4th and the New Year with an incredible passion. But just because Florida’s humid weather allows people to shoot fireworks doesn’t mean it’s super safe.
Fireworks have a long history of causing severe damage to homes. Even a simple firework, if misused or left unattended, could start a raging fire that could change your life forever. And that’s not even considering the potential physical harm it could cause your children, pets, and even yourself.
7 Firework Safety Tips You Should Know
To avoid potentially harming yourself, your children, your pets, or your home, it’s essential to learn about standard firework safety practices. Here are seven firework safety tips you should follow this holiday season.
1. Location
When you’re going to spend an evening shooting off fireworks, it’s good to have a location picked out. But remember, it can’t be just any location. It would be safest if you found an area that is flat, open, flameproof, and with plenty of space to move around.
2. Create a Safety Perimeter
Once you have a location, you should take the time to mark out a safety perimeter. The launch zone should have a perimeter of 35 feet for ground-based fireworks and 150 feet for aerial fireworks. Creating a physical boundary will also be helpful for anyone in charge of lighting because it’ll show them how far they have to run after the firework has been lit.
3. Properly Dispose of Fireworks When Finished
When your fireworks are spent, don’t just throw them in the trash. First, you should soak them in water to avoid accidentally igniting anything in the trash can or dumpster. Also, you should keep your launch zone as clean as possible during the entire evening to avoid setting anything off accidentally. Even fireworks that have already been lit can go off unexpectedly.
4. “Ignite and Run!”
“Ignite and run!” is a mantra that everyone should use when lighting fireworks. It’s simple – once you light a firework, you should turn tail and run to a safe and pre-marked distance as fast as you can. If you’ve created a physical boundary around your launch zone, then this will be much easier.
5. Pace Yourself
If you want to create a safe environment for you, your family, and your home, you should try to pace yourself. Instead of lighting a bunch of fireworks at once, try to light them one at a time. Not only is this a safer approach, but it will also give you the most for your money, allowing you to savor every firework individually.
6. Watch Out for Duds
Faulty fireworks can still pose a risk. If you light something that doesn’t go off, there’s still a chance it could explode without warning. So, when a firework fails to ignite, you should leave it alone for five to ten minutes before approaching it and placing it in a bucket of water.
7. Watch the Weather
While the Florida weather is ideal for shooting fireworks, you still need to keep an eye on the weather. If it’s incredibly windy, you should reschedule for a day when the wind isn’t so bad. Strong winds can alter the trajectory of a firework or even push it out of your safety perimeter and into neighboring homes, trees, grass, buildings, and even people.
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