Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - The popularity of backyard fireworks is booming and the pops and bangs have been heard in neighborhoods across the region for days now as Independence Day arrives.
With many tempted to use their own fireworks for the upcoming Fourth of July holiday, experts are advising you to take steps to be safe and a fireworks professional tells WBEN it's best to see a show done by the pros instead.
Bruce Zoldan of Phantom Fireworks says the first step is to choose carefully where you buy fireworks. He says buy from a reliable licensed fireworks store that's a year round brick and mortar store. "This year more than ever, we're seeing overloaded product being brought into the country being disguised as consumer fireworks, but highly overloaded in powder content. And God forbid there's an accident somebody misuses it," says Zoldan.
Zoldan says children should never handle or touch fireworks. "Children should be watching and an adult should be using the fireworks and following the guidelines on the products," notes Zoldan. He says everyone should have a hose or a bucket of water available. "There are various guidelines in distance, the product will tell you how far away it should be from a house that you can light it up from a crowd. And there are various items like skyrockets and others that you would not want to shoot within range of where people were watching the show," advises Zoldan.
Matt Shaw of Skylighters, a local professional pyrotechnics operation, prefers you check out a professionally done fireworks display. But if you decide to go on your own, he too says have a hose and bucket ready to put hot sparklers in when you're done using them. He says no one younger than 18 should be handling fireworks, especially since you must be 18 to buy fireworks.
The Erie County Sheriff's Office says while sparklers, party poppers, and small fireworks are legal, items such as bottle rockets, aerial displays, firecrackers, and larger exploding devices such as M-80s, "cherry bombs," and larger explosives are illegal.
Deputies say annually, emergency rooms treat over 10,000 firework-related, and about a third of those injuries are children under 15 years old. Among the reported injuries, many are caused by handheld displays such as sparklers. Sparklers reach 1,200 degrees, similar to a welding stick, and cause severe injuries, including third-degree burns.
