Chickamauga, GA – Many Americans celebrate Independence Day with a parade, picnic or BBQ and of course, fireworks. “It’s enjoyable, but they are dangerous. They can hurt and they have hurt so just be very cautious when you do fireworks,” says Walker County Fire Inspector Jeff Roerdink.
Fireworks were involved in over 9,000 injuries that required a hospital visit in 2018, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
Roerdink offers a few recommendations to keep you from becoming a statistic this Fourth of July. “If you have a firework, don’t hold on to that firework. That firework is considered an explosive and it can remove fingers and cause all sorts of damage. Be smart with what you are going to do with these fireworks. Don’t shoot them at each other.”
Here are a few other safety tips:
- Shoot fireworks off from a solid surface, like a concrete pad, so they won’t fall over
- Never try to relight a dud
- Keep a bucket of water close by to douse spent fireworks
- Think twice before letting small children hold sparklers, which burn hot enough to cause third degree burns
On the subject of sparklers, Roerdink has some additional perspective. “To put it into perspective, wood generally burns at 300 to 400 degrees fahrenheit, so a sparkler is 1200 degrees fahrenheit, that temperature is enough temperature to actually burn some metals.”
Roerdink says the best way to take part in a fireworks display is as a viewer… letting professionally trained pyrotechnicians handle the show. “I just want to make sure everybody has a safe and happy Fourth of July from Walker County Fire Rescue.”
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Walker County’s approval of fireworks is simply for the amount of revenue the sale of fireworks bring to the county. Although it’s legal in Georgia to shoot fireworks any day of the week, including holidays, the fact still remains that there are those in the county adversely affected by fireworks. Some families are being held literally hostage in a literal “war zone” by fireworks loud enough to shake the windows in nearby houses. The ones shooting the fireworks have no compassion for those who suffer from PTSD in addition to our 4-legged family members who are afraid to go outside for literally days after a holiday. Yes, fireworks are legal, but where are OUR rights? Georgia made the sale and use of fireworks legal, but it didn’t outlaw mandating areas where fireworks could be used. If you want to use fireworks, designate certain areas where they can be used. This would address the legality AND give some peace-of-mind to those adversely affected by the “cannon fire” they are currently being exposed to. Yes, your rights matter, but so do ours.