ORLANDO, Fla. – We’re gearing up for the Fourth Of July and that means Fireworks At The Fountain! Even though public shows offer the biggest, safest option, many people still enjoy buying their own fireworks.
That’s why firefighters are warning everyone of the dangers ahead of The Fourth.
Bridgett talked to Assistant Fire Chief Aaron Rhodes from Orlando Fire about their annual fireworks safety campaign. He says it’s one of the busiest times of year for fire departments and emergency rooms.
“There’s a couple of key factors. Almost 3/4 of the incidents involving fireworks occur on Fourth of July. And that doesn’t include the days leading into or going forth from there. Oftentimes they do involve children, about 36% nationally, kids under the age of 15 years old. So we want to make sure our kids stay at a safe distance,” he said.
Rhodes went down the list of several best safety practices for fireworks at home. Two key issues: talking to children about safety and keeping them at a safe distance, plus reminding adults to avoid alcohol if they’ll be the ones using fireworks.
“Even the sparklers, sparklers can burn up to 2,000 degrees, which is hot enough to cause some significant burns. Those are things we want to start our conversations way before we even have our fun in the outside, letting them know up front what they can and can’t do and oftentimes they’ll abide by that,” he said.
“It’s the highest-ranking day for them (emergency rooms) followed by New Year’s Eve. The other thing we can say, avoid alcohol use when you participate in lighting your own fireworks. Impairment causes us to make those decisions that don’t fall in line with the best safety practices. If you’re going to enjoy alcoholic beverages, sit back in the lawn chair, let the professionals do what they need to do.”
Even with more rain in recent days, the assistant chief said there are still dry conditions out there.
“Want to make sure we use them in open area that doesn’t have flammable material around it. The state of Florida has a lot of vegetation that can still be very dry, so there are several factors to consider in your set up, including keeping water close by,” he said.
Watch the full interview at the top of this story.