Are fireworks getting more dangerous ?

[Dave7]

Just been reading about some firework injuries on new years eve.
Fireworks have always been subject to misuse along with injuries but.........
•Alsace . A guy was decapitated by a rocket. the person next to him has severe facial injuries. What sort of firework can decapitate someone ?
• A 13 year old lad died from stomach injuries.....a firework injury.
• a guy in France had his hand blown off
• 2 footballers injured, one with sight damage.
As a 14 year old a mate lost an eye but tbh that was stupidity.

 

[Slick]

At the risk of sounding harsh, I'm sure if you studied all these incidents, stupidity would be the crux of mist of them if not all.

That said, decapitation really is horrific, whi knows what happened there but at the end of the day, flesh and bone is no match against what is essentially just explosives.

 

[CanucksTraveller]

Remember those gory presentations that your local community policeman did to schools in the late 70s and early 80s in the lead up to bonfire night? Full of actual pictures of injuries... I remember one where a lad's hand was missing nearly all of the fingers as he'd still been holding a banger when it went off (and they're tiny). Another picture showed what amounted to a disemboweling, caused by carrying a rocket inside a jacket pocket, set off by a spark.

Gunpowder (even in very small amounts) has the power to remove body parts easily, given the right conditions, i.e. the containment or channelling of the energy at release, whether by design or by accident.
Burn a teaspoon of black powder in the open and it's pretty benign, but put it inside a tin and that tin can travel a long way! Then imagine a hand wrapped tightly around that tin.

 

[stephec]

I can't see a Catherine wheel made by Standard Fireworks taking someone's head off though, but the big boxes where you're advised to keep a 20m distance?

And it's a big bang and £30 up in smoke, I'm glad it's not my money.

 

[PK99]

At the risk of sounding harsh, I'm sure if you studied all these incidents, stupidity would be the crux of mist of them if not all.

That said, decapitation really is horrific, whi knows what happened there but at the end of the day, flesh and bone is no match against what is essentially just explosives.

According to DNA, a local newspaper, the firework did not explode when initially lit but then detonated when the two men approached it.

 

[bagpuss]

A house in Derby was badly damaged a couple of years ago ,when a rocket from someones bonfire party near by hit the roof . It broke tiles and caused a fire which destoryed half the house . The owners were unharmed but it took a year + to rebuild .

 

[Bonefish Blues]

According to DNA, a local newspaper, the firework did not explode when initially lit but then detonated when the two men approached it.

Rule 1 of not many. Never return...

 

[oldwheels]

From long ago memories fireworks were pretty small and disappointing but in recent years the power seems to have increased dramatically and even domestic ones seem more powerful than in the past.
Nothing to really back this up but just personal observation.
When I was at school we used to pinch detonators from the local pit dynamite store and throw them against walls to explode. Once one did not explode on impact and the idiot throwing it caught it in his hand on the rebound as it exploded. Lucky to only lose a couple of fingers.

 

[Drago]

Back when I were a lad most kids were experts in handling explosives and small arms.

 

[wheresthetorch]

explosives and small arms

I would have thought long arms would be more advantageous.

 

[Dayvo]

Roads aren’t dangerous, guns aren’t dangerous, fireworks aren’t dangerous; just the fools who use them unwisely.

 

[Oldhippy]

Aren't guns designed to be dangerous? It makes their existence pointless otherwise surely.

 

[Drago]

Theyre designed to be dangerous to people theyre pointed at, not the operator.

 

[cougie uk]

Apparently they've banned the repeater fireworks - the ones that you never quite knew when they'd finished.

Personally I'd ban sales to the public. There's been fireworks going off every night since Xmas here. Dog hates it.

 

[steveindenmark]

There are more stupid people in the world now.

When I was a kid, I cannot recall being able to buy an entire firework display in one box. It was take one out of the tin box one at a time.