No! to Backyard Fireworks
 

Take your children to the parade, or a public fireworks display, instead. Even if there's a pool nearby to douse them with. Please!

:angry:

Take it from me. I was a Statistic.

YES! to 'No! to Backyard Fireworks'. Though not a statistic myself, we learned recently that my father maybe killed a kid when he was a kid and they were playing with fireworks. And the ruckus scares many pets. I love fireworks shows, especially the grand finale, but NIMBY.

Story? scars? xray? photos? Need the info.

Hmmm.....I was just thinking about what a Nazi I've become because of this issue. Maybe there are a couple times of the year I should just live and let live. (or let die as the case may be)

I was thikning about all the trash and destruction of fireworks in my neighborhood (already). Can't I just let people be stupid and have fun instead of socially regulating everything all the time?

This year I say yes, to whatever you wanna do. Fire it up. I am tired of my judgements, and for one day, people may eat too much, then go light some explosives, burn their hands off, whatever.

Whatever makes you happy. Go ahead. I've become a nazi about everything else. I think I'll postpone my judgements just for a day. Jesus! I have become an asshole curmudgeon along with everyone else!

One day, long ago, when I was about 7 or 8, it was the Fifth of July. You know, the Day After The Fourth of July. The day after we had set off fireworks in our backyard. It was pretty common back then (and legal in Calif).

That morning, I woke up, and, while my parents were having breakfast in the dining room, decided to go play with the leftover fireworks. I was still in my pjs, in this case a lovely pink nylon gown and robe set my sister had given me for Christmas. This was, if you will perceive, before the days of children's fire-retardant sleepwear.

I'll never be certain exactly what happened. For a long time, I thought it was the sparkler itself that set me on fire. But now I think that I simply dropped the match on me after lighting the sparkler.

WHOOSH!

This was also, unfortunately, before the days of "stop, drop, and roll." So naturally, I ran around screaming like a banshee (or a child on fire), fanning the flames. My poor parents--I can't imagine what that must have been like. My father came racing out to the backyard and had to catch me. Stupid me--our backyard had a huge pool in it. My dad probably saved my life that day, by throwing me in the pool, dousing the flames.

They wrapped me in a sheet and drove me to the hospital, where I stayed on and off for the next several months. Multiple skin grafts for third degree burns over one whole side of my torso, from hip to armpit, including my breast. I was lucky. Very, very, lucky--it didn't get my face, and mostly the scars aren't too noticeable.

Now, I'm a smart girl, but what child has much common sense? It only takes a second.

Story here. I'll leave it to Cloud to decide if she wants to link to scars, which I believe are here somewhere. Beautiful picture of her back tattoo here if not.

ETA - Cloud replied while I was searching. As is proper. Links still attached for info.

I don't actually have pics of the scars. You can use your imagination.

ETA: oooh, I repeated myself. You did a better job of searching than I did, SG. I did look, but all I found were the tattoo posts.

Sorry, it's a recurring theme in my life, especially this time of year.

Ouch! Cloud you were very lucky. Nice colors on the ink, btw.
When I was young and immortal (~20-25 y.o.) I used to like to do really stupid things in as safe a manner as I could manage; I was pretty lucky only minor burns to the fingers and a snout full of sulfur.

I do remember watching my friend's dad go up into flames while he was working on a car (he was a mechanic) while smoking a cigarette and wearing oil soaked coveralls. Predictably, it did not go well at all for him from then on out. It was kind of strange because that entire family had the worst luck imaginable. It was as if they had a curse on them. It should have wised me up, but one never makes the connections between the ACTION and the result until later. When we are younger we seem to think it is the ACTOR who creates the results.

So, no to fireworks in the backyard, unless you've had lots to drink and your friends are recording it for youtube.

Considering the very dry conditions in the West, I agree. No to backyard fireworks.

Cloud - that tattoo is awesome! I love the vibrant colors. TY for sharing your story. It gives another perspective to the dangers of fireworks

I think I love you.:love:

I agree that being judgmental all the time is no good. But I'm sure you can appreciate I don't think I'm being judgmental here, but passing along my very real concerns based on painful experience.

I have no kids -- can I light them off?

invisible burning kids?

can't give you permission for this, virtual kids or not, sorry

Sorry you lit yourself on freaking fire Clouder!

Suxors!

I don't have kids, and this part of NM is perpetually wet right now! Bang boom, snap!

Unlike you, one of the best times I think I've ever had, was being a part of a fireworks team for the big show one year. I got to deliver the aesthetic "magic"!
:)
So we are probably going to have quite the opposite opinion on this. I think there is a time and place for it, and not.

I know you had a painful experience with this. I read all about it right there. But not every 5 year old does that, sometimes they go straight for a light socket, sometimes they touch burners, sometimes they put stuff in their mouths that don't belong there, sometimes they think they can fly off the roof, in my case I decided to swat a police dog on the behind for growling, and got my face chewed up. I still love dogs.

It stands to reason that you would hide TNT and explosives from children and regulate it when you are using it....

it was a long time ago.

Professional fireworks, sure, I like'em. The backyard party kind . . . not so much.

I appreciate that. But because you had a very bad experience, and I won't go into unsupervised children, doesn't make fireworks evil.

My family, neighbors and friends, would gather at my Grandmother's, every year until the mid 90s, for a big bonfire and picnic. We would have tons of fireworks that someone would pick up in South Carolina, on their way home from Florida. I'm talking serious shit, big rockets, real cherry bombs than could take your hand off, and the like. All of the kids participated and all of the adults (and older kids) watched the youngsters so they didn't hurt themselves, or someone else. Also, the youngsters would get someone to light the fuse while they concentrated on what to do once it was lit. No injuries in all those years, other than an occasional finger burn from a hot sparkler wire, but that was seldom repeated by the same kid.

I will admit, in my teens, I would pocket a few cherry bombs for mischief later on. But the knowlege learned from the supervised celebrations, kept me from hurting anyone with them. Of course the trouble I got into with them, and the punishment I received, were great life lessons.

Anyway, that 's a long winded view of my experience, so that's where I'm coming from.

Maybe it is you Clouder, that should try it, using all safety measures. Conquer your fears. Go buy a sparkler pack. Have a new experience with this. You might find the sparkler to be quite lovely, or a trivial piece of crap.
:)
There is a reason why people like them.

Your experience sounds very painful. I would hate for you to live with that forever. Some of your concerns are valid. But I would hate for you to miss something because of a painful and traumatizing experience.

Apparently I wanted to unplug something. For whatever reason, I decided it wasn't save to take out with my hand.

So I pried it out of the socket with a metal fork. :skull:

A metal fork? That's just plain ol' dumb. Silly. Stoopid. Now me, I used a copper aquarium valve. COPPER. Next thing I remember was being on my back across the room, with the valve held held high and my eyes gradually focusing on the blackened area around the screw hole on the valve. I dodged a Darwin Award, but only because it wasn't invented then. :blush:

Hell, I've got a whole collection of screwdrivers, wire cutters and the like, with blackened, partially melted, edges.

This wire is dead... I'm sure I killed this circuit.
Well, there's no way to kill the line from the pole, but I'll be careful.
Shit, it's only a 110 line, what can happen.
Sure baby, I'll just whip this dimmer into the light circuit and meet you in the bedroom.
:shock:

I hate fireworks. They make deeply uneasy, and always have. I remember as a kid, the only fireworks I was truly comfortable with were sparklers.....and that was only because you could write your name in the dark with them...

I was always slightly afraid of the potential dangers of fireworks, possibly in part picked up from my mum, who was also a statistic :p Very occasionally we'd go to a friend's bonfire.....I loved the fire, the potatoes, the black peas and bonfire toffee.....hated the fireworks. Most years we stuck to 'indoor fireworks' :P

Now as an adult I hate them even more. They wind the dog up and make being outside feel slightly unsafe.

bonfire toffee
Never heard of that befor , I Looked it up ,
http://www.fireworks.co.uk/party/recipes.html
Sounds Tasty , I may have to try it

From a very detailed article, on how to build homemade fireworks, from a 1936 Science & Mechanics magazine.

Dana, couldn't you substitute guns for fireworks, and make the same statement? I posit it's fear of the unknown, because you have never learned how to handle them and how you really have to screw up to get hurt.
Granted, they do wind up the dogs. :cool:

Cloud failed to mention t hat gunfire tonight is a popular diversion for some folks. I always get nervous when firearms are going off (into the air, natch) and those bullets have to come down somewhere...

I know that the projectile will have spent it's energy by the time it falls back to Earth, but what if the Yoyo who fired it was not at full elevation? It could be a line drive to my noggin!

And I live close to her now...closer than before.

Brian

beest and I made a similar comparison this evening. Michigan law only allows fireworks that don't leave the ground. The first party we were at, they were setting them off on a metal tray on a plastic box at the end of the driveway, about 3 feet from the watchhing kids. And a 10 year old was lighting them. We were very apprehensive (and made our kids stand much further back).

The second party was illegal imported fireworks (we're near several borders) (although the rumor is he has a "permit" -certainly, no police bothered us). The crowd were a good way back, they were lit sensibly -at arms length with proper illumination, and we loved them, but most of the locals were nervous and sure they would injure someone because they were "illegal", and were all paranoid about falling hot ash because they were up in the air. We posited that is must be similar to UK/US difference in firearms laws, in that if the law says it's OK then it must be safe, but if it says it's not... eeeeek!

I think you snoozed through physics class, Brian. If you shoot a bullet straight up in the air, it loses its energy at the apogee of its arc. When it reaches the ground it is going just as fast as when it left the barrel. A flat trajectory, not so.

Avoid the knuckle heads in the first place.

Apart from the Elvis Costello song, is there any other meaning to indoor fireworks. I know there are some displays which are done in an arena, but you aren't talking about that...

Most cities around here don't allow fireworks w/in the limits, but its usually about a 15min drive to a county that allows them. There are fireworks stations set up with a field next to them for people to set their stuff off in. That is some scary shit. My dad, bf, and I went out to one one year, we hung around the firemen my dad is friends with. Usually we do set off fireworks at our house and have a little party with family and friends. My dad is a super nazi about safety though and so far no minor injuries even. This year we're goin out to my brother's new place and he's throwing a huge party that's BYO fireworks, not to sure about it, but since its his farm (someday) then he'll probably be pretty active about safety.

More importantly, Bruce, I am aware of how little you have to screw up for someone to get hurt. My mum still has the scar from the rocket that went into her stomach when she was 8. Not, I might point out, because people were messing about and acting unsafely, but at a small neighbourhood display when the rocket slipped down just before it launched.

I have handled fireworks. I have handled them for my niece's sake. I still hate them :P

@ 3foot: indoor fireworks were a fad during the late-70s and 80s. They are not explosive lol. There's one that sits there as a little pyramid and when you light it it fizzes and turns into a volcano effect. Another one you set alight and it spews stuff out in a snake shape......oh and of course the ubiquitous sparklers:)

http://www.fireworksarcade.co.uk/indoor-fireworks.html

Well, you're going to be a big help when the revolution comes. :haha:

*grins* I've already decided my role in the revolution will be that of Sleeper :P



as an aside: I am actually far more comfortable handling guns than fireworks.

Well glory be... next you'll be telling us you chew tobacco, too? :eek:

*grins* nope, but I do have a fondness for rough shag (tobacco:P)

I've always loved fireworks, but I don't understand these dumbasses who miss/ignore the concept of bottle rockets.

When I was a kid, adults would actually put them in bottles before lighting them, make us all stand back, and the rockets would go off on a specific trajectory before exploding.

Now, there are idiots who think it's fun to light the the bottle rockets while they're in hand, and throw them. Woo hoo, they go all over the place, and you have no idea where they're going to end up. Ha ha, look at everyone run away, trying to avoid getting burned. :mad:

Incorrect, although the bullet will regain some momentum, it will not regain it all. Yes, there is a moment a the top of the arc when the bullet is motionless, and there is an acceleration curve on the way down, the final velocity is nowhere near the initial velocity. Had I not snoozed through physics, I could even offer equations to prove this. Someone else will have to do it for me.

32 ft per second squared, but ya gotta know how high it went.

It goes as high as it can get with -32 ft/sec squared pulling down on it, and thus it has that same distance and time to re-accelerate on its way back down. The only way it would not match its initial velocity when it comes back down is if it hits terminal velocity for a piece of metal that size and weight.

Except that it will be loosing energy due to wind resistance in both directions.

For the record I LOVE fireworks.

We only had a backyard show one year - because of cost mainly. We stood well back with Mum, while Dad lit them. I was terrified for him, but enjoyed the danger. Daddies are immortal when you are 7. Both Blue Peter and Mum impressed on us solemnly that you should never touch a firework that hasn't gone off. Even 5 years later. It WILL go off the second it is picked up. Fireworks are malevolent and live mostly to damage children.

Anyway, Dad had carefully nailed up the Catherine Wheel at the bottom of the garden. But it fulfilled its true aim and came free, spinning into the neighbour's garden where sundry children and adults had gathered to watch, and chased Susan Saunders up the path.

She was fine, it was just mild shock. In fact Dad had a habit of damaging the Saunders' children. One Halloween he took to hiding in the shadows when the door was opened, wearing my little brother's werewolf mask and jumping out with his fabulous spooky laugh (practised on us for years to spine-chilling effect). Laura Saunders screamed and ran back up the path in tears - Dad had to go out and show her the mask and apologise before she calmed down. She was about 12.

After the one home fireworks show we didn't have any more. We used to get bundled up in 12 layers of clothes and our wellies (November is Bonfire Night here) and go and watch the Round Table show from the other side of the hedge, so we didn't have to pay entry. I was cold but spellbound. Perhaps because it was forbidden fruit - we could hear the fair, smell the hotdogs and see the fireworks, but it wasn't for the likes of us. I always wondered how come we never get any money from the Round Table. We were too poor to go to any of their events - surely that made us poor enough to get something free?

Anyway - I work for a company with a fireworks division. They also use a lot of pyrotechnics in shows. I love it - I think it's the coollest thing ever.

I completely understand your feelings Cloud. And I agree if it's illegal or dangerous (dry conditions) then it shouldn't happen. But legal, carefully supervised and controlled I think it's a great part of growing up and of our descreet cultural identities. Although if pushed I'd admit a public event is the best option. Just take your own sparklers.

Oh and anyone caught with illegal fireworks should be taken to visit Burns Wards. And I don't mean the haggis and neeps type.

It's dry in Denver this year. From a local news source:

I was encouraged to play with fire works ( Saftley ) by my Mom , she showed me how , Lots of fun !!!

Then as I got older , bottle rocket fights , Building a Model air plane just to BLAST it !!! Of course this was when it was ok to give yer kids BB Guns to PLAY with .

Then My mom and her friend standing in our car port ( with a Scotch in hand ) shooting Roman candles at us kids as we ran screaming in the cove !! ( and yes I have heard this story Told by a stranger , Incredulously recounting a story heard from a friend , I Just stand there Nodding my head , and say ( after they are thru ) " That was My Mom , and I was one of the kids !! " :eek:

Good times I tells ya, Good times !!!!:D

2 lbs. black power is the way to go.

Now the question IS buster ,
How Far UP does that make an Anvil Fly ???

Ya gotta love a mom who can have fun shooting at her kids with a roman candle while drinking scotch! It's like boot camp for kids.

It's like boot camp for kids.

It All ways was , thats why Parris island was so Much fun:D

And when I told her I was going into Heavy weapons she said
"OH MY GOD !!!! " :eek: :eek: :eek:

We were poor when we were kids, but matches were cheap, so we figured out how to make bombs and rockets using matchheads. We stopped when one went off in the hand of one of us. His twin brother was in the same room at the time talking on the phone, and a piece of shrapnel embedded in the wall next to his head. The explosion took one finger off totaly, above the nuckle. The rest of his hand looked like hamburger. They couldn't find the finger, so took him to the hospital as is. When the parents returned home, they found the cat playing with the finger.
We called the guy Fingers from then on.

i'm not sorry about his finger.

No to backyard firework
 

Amen. Backyard fireworks are dangerous and rude -and usually handled by someone who recently had a beer in hand. Unless your backyard is way out in the country where you have no neighbors, forget it. In my neighborhood we have folks at the end of our cul-de-sac who set off fireworks in July, August and December (holidays for fireworks but I guess they spread them out over DAYS). The fact we have a cul-de-sac tells you our houses are on top of each other. Not only is it dangerous but my kids go to bed at 9:30 pm and they do their fireworks show after 10. Getting kids to bed is hard enough without the yahoos making it harder.

That's funny. My dad said he never met a D.I. who was scarier than his mom.
(This is the guy who falsified his birth certificate and pulled out one of his own teeth to join the corps rather than face his mother with a bad report card. The tooth was bad and the army wouldn't take him with a bad tooth, after he pulled it he went back the the recruiters office and the army was at lunch, so he joined the Marines intstead...) Maybe we're cousins or something?

especially don't do this

the best part is that the guy is smoking cigarettes the whole time...and he DIDN'T die!

That Right there is what you Call RNT !!!!
Red
Neck
Technology

This man Is Now my HERO !!!!!!

For a Darwin, you have to kill yourself or otherwise remove your genes from the gene pool. Unless you blew your nuts off, you wouldn't have been under consideration.

That's funny because sparklers are the kind that make me the most uneasy. Those wires get really hot. And people hand them to little kids who generally aren't very careful where they're waving them about.

My daughter burned me with a sparkler on Friday. Not bad enough to leave a mark, but a glowing sparkle dropped on my bare foot and burned me between my toes.

I'll live.

But I have seen a little kid (not mine) touch the glowing part of the wire after the sparkler goes out. Curiosity killed the cat.

My small group of very good and very twisted friends had a tradition in our early 20's. it was called our white trash celebration. the group was mostly punk or hardcore types so the more redneck lifestyle that was common in that part of the midwest was not something we normally looked kindly upon. except for July 5th.

On that day we bought all the PBR and Natural light, Wild Turkey and Jack Daniels we could carry. We would also get old tv sets that had been discarded. Add to that our annual trip to missour'ah to get some fireworks and our normal state of always having a plethora of firearms around and you have the makings for a great and glorious fiasco. Holly's dad, a disgruntled postal worker no less, always allowed us to use his property because it was safely in the middle of BFE.

We would cart all of our supplies out there and start drinking and grilling early in the day. Then we'd start shooting the tv sets. Why? not real sure, we just did. Then the fireworks. Then we'd all head in for some more drinking and card playing until everyone passed out.

Yeah, stupid tradition, i know.

Anyway, one year my good friend C, who is either the dumbest genius or the smartest idiot you'll ever meet, made sure we'd remember the fireworks stage for sure. I had been setting off jumping jacks inside of PBR cans with pretty cool results. spinning and sparking and all the noise. Well, C decided to one up me. He twisted a bunch of them together and put them in a can. It was awesome. A great sight. Then he decided to do the same thing but throw them in the air. OK, cool. At the last minute he decided it would make a great target for him. That is when we said, "OK, let's put the guns away, dummy think is in effect." He was disappointed but decided to throw the can anyway. As he was lighting it I asked if he remembered to extend the fuze. He said he did and got pissed that we'd question him. We stood back and watched as he lit it, then held it to throw at just the right moment. 5, 4, 3, 2, GUESS YOU SHOULD HAVE THROWN ON 2 DUMBASS! The can turned white hot before he even dropped it, let alone threw it.

Commence the running around and whimpering. That was him. We were laughing. He, of course, blistered immediately but it wasn't as bad as it could have been. It was some pretty nasty burn but nothing that required hospitalization.

He was less than pleased as we made fun of the fact that he would still have his hand bandaged when he went back to teaching summer school the next week. That's a genius in action.

City slicker passing through country village stops at local blacksmith. CS watches as LB hammers out a horseshoe, heating, hammering, heating, hammering, transforming a straight iron rod into the iconic horseshoe curve. At the end of this process, LB holds the horseshoe up for one final visual inspection then tosses it into a bin full of sawdust. Curious, CS reaches down and picks up the still hot horseshoe, and immediately drops it back into the bin.

"Burn your hand?" asks LB.

"No, it just doesn't take me long to check out a horseshoe." replies CS.

When I was a bike mechanic I worked in a shop that took in hundreds of repairs a month. By the end of the year there were some abandoned bikes, and after a year or so passed we'd pull off any parts we'd installed and set the bikes aside for cannibalization if there were any decent parts or they'd go into the "huffy throw" pile otherwise.

Most of the abandoned repairs were bikes that weren't worth the cost of the repair, we'd tell the customer up front that the bike wasn't worth fixing, sometimes even for a flat tire, but they'd insist and for a while we never required deposits.(go figure)

Anyway once a year we'd convene at one guys house out in the country and have a bacchanalian orgy of drinking, fireworks and ritual bike sacrifice as a way to purge ourselves of anger and frustration at having to work on crappy bikes all year long and deal with insane customers.

The huffy throw deserves another thread so I'll stick to the pyrotechnic part of the story.

One year we built a black powder canon out of the frame tubes of some junker. It look just like the guns on a battleship, three different barrel ODs gradually getting smaller towards the muzzle. For a touch hole we brazed on a grease zerk. To finish it off we brazed it to a piece of leaf spring as a base.

A teaspoon of black powder made a nice bang which would stop conversation, as drinking continued one of the yahoos made himself in charge of filling and lighting the thing. After a while a bang wasn't enough and he started adding more and more black powder, the last time he filled it I saw him dump about a half cup or so into the tube.

He lit the match and there was a deafening blast which threw him backwards about ten feet. He sat there staring at the ground for a long time. The host grabbed the remains of the cannon and it disappeared. All that was left was the leaf spring and the breech. The zerk was gone as was the rest of the tubing.

Knucklehead was deaf for several hours and probably doesn't hear too well toady. That was the beginning of the end of the yearly festival.