Fireworks cause for fun, caution

Americans have celebrated Independence Day with fireworks for nearly 200 years, lighting up… Americans have celebrated Independence Day with fireworks for nearly 200 years, lighting up the sky with firecrackers, roman candles and skyrockets.

Sounds like fun – too bad Pennsylvania residents aren’t allowed to set off many fireworks.

State laws prohibit Pennsylvanians from setting off most types of fireworks, although they don’t prohibit people from buying and selling them.

According to Pittsburgh Police spokesperson Tammy Ewin, people can buy, sell and set off any consumer firework – fireworks containing less than 50 milligrams of explosive material – like toy smoke devices, glow worms, toy caps and sparklers.

While anyone over the age of 18 can buy and sell fireworks with more than 50 milligrams of explosives, Ewin said Pennsylvanians cannot set them off. This includes firecrackers, skyrockets, roman candles, aerial fireworks, M-80s, M-100s, cherry bombs, silver salutes, bottle rockets and mine and shell devices.

“A general rule of thumb is anything that is going to rocket into the sky is probably illegal,” Ewin said. “Anything that is going to spark into the sky is probably legal.”

The Consumer Product Safety Commission set national standards for American firework manufacturers and banned fireworks that did not comply with CPSC regulations from the market in 1976. Since then, the sales of fireworks have more than tripled, but the number of injuries keeps declining every year, according to statistics from the American Pyrotechnics Association’s Web site.

The CPSC makes an injury estimate report every year by monitoring a sample of hospital rooms. They estimated that in 1976, out of the 29 million pounds of used fireworks, 11,100 people suffered firework-related injuries, according to the APA’s Web site.

In 2005, Americans used 281.5 million pounds of fireworks – almost 10 times the amount used in 1976. But in 2005, 10,800 people suffered injuries – a difference of 300.

The National Council of Firework Safety, a charitable organization that works to educate the public on the responsible use of fireworks, encourages shooters to buy fireworks from reliable sellers, to only use fireworks outdoors and to only light one firework at a time.

NCFS public relations spokesman Jim Winner said that most of the rules tie in with common sense.

“We tell people ‘don’t mix and match,'” Winner said. “Don’t tape things together and see what happens. Just because one [firework] is nice to watch, doesn’t mean you should tape five together and that would be five times as nice.”

Winner said that children under the age of 15 accounted for 45 percent of firework-related injuries. The NCFS encourages adults to set off fireworks and store them in places where children won’t reach them.

According to Winner, most firework injuries are burns, but sometimes ash from fireworks will fall into a person’s eye, causing minor injuries. Other injuries can result when a shooter fails to secure the firework’s base, which causes the firework to go sideways instead of upwards and hit a bystander . Injuries also result when shooters set off fireworks while drinking.

“We see people get hurt when they mix alcohol with fireworks,” Winner said. “When you’re drinking you get a little sloppy.”

“Everyone thinks that they can’t get hurt – that it can’t happen to them,” Winner added. “But look at what happened to Ben Roethlisberger. [Accidents] can happen to anyone.”

According to APA staff member Susan Bachenheimer, most of the people who suffered firework-related injuries had operated consumer fireworks – not large display fireworks that can contain more than 20 pounds of explosive material.

Events like the Super Bowl and the Macy’s Day Parade have firework displays that can cost more than $100,000 and incorporate thousands of fireworks.

These shows require pyrotechnicians – licensed professionals who have taken classes and have field experience with fireworks – to set off the display fireworks. Regulations differ from state to state, but most pyrotechnicians learn basic chemistry and the properties of fireworks. They are also required to participate in three to six outdoor firework display shows.

“There are far more consumer injuries than professional injuries,” Bachenheimer said. “The professionals that are using them have a respect for it. It is an experienced person who knows how to handle the product.”

America has become more patriotic since Sept. 11, 2001, said Bachenheimer, and the demand for pyrotechnicians has grown since then.

But many pyrotechnicians do not work full time and only work during holidays and the days leading up to Independence Day. Bachenheimer said that the APA employs many teachers who don’t work during the summer and other workers who will take a two- to three-week vacation from their jobs to work the display shows.

Regardless of whether someone is a pyrotechnician working a firework display show or a person shooting off fireworks in their backyard, Winner urges everyone to take caution this Independence Day.

“By using a little common sense, you can really keep the Fourth of July a safe and happy holiday,” Winner said.