primitives discuss fireworks

[franksolich]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x1403315

Oh my.

proud2BlibKansan  (1000+ posts)        Sat Jul-02-11 01:38 PM
Original message
 
Explosion victims, authorities warn others not to tamper with fireworks

Colby Johnson did his best to put Kirstie Perry out.

Embers still glowed on what remained of her shirt. An elastic waistband still hung from her hips, but little else of her sweatpants survived the explosion in the Raytown bedroom.

“I put my hands to my face, and I could feel that my hair was matted, and I could feel the skin peeling off my lips,” Perry said this week, remembering the trauma of a year ago. “I asked Colby, ‘Am I still pretty?’

“And then I just started crying.”

A year ago this week, friends Perry, Johnson and Eric McLaughlin found themselves on the unlucky end of Independence Day. They were among seven Kansas City area individuals who, within one week, suffered injuries when they either accidentally mishandled or intentionally tried to alter or rearrange consumer grade fireworks.

Read more: http://www.kansascity.com/2011/07/01/2989046/explosion-...

franksolich wishes the Die alte Sau a most happy 4th of July, by the way.

csziggy  (1000+ posts)      Sat Jul-02-11 01:46 PM
Response to Original message
 
1. Yeah, our neighbors have already begun setting off their illegal fireworks

Before I realized what it was on Thursday evening, I had called the Sheriff's Department. I thought someone was out shooting a gun at quarter to eleven.

At least we've had enough rain that I am not worried about morons with fireworks setting fire to the neighborhood. Until two weeks ago we were under a red flag warning - no burning - because the area was so dry. In years past, even when there was drought bad enough that the county cancelled their fireworks show, our moronic neighbors were still setting off their rockets, pointing them out over our fields. Some years we have found burned patches on July 5.

In Florida, according to the State Fire Marshall, any firework that explodes or that leaves the ground is illegal. That pretty much, according to him, leaves sparklers as legal. The local Sheriff does not enforce that statute.

mzteris  (1000+ posts)        Sat Jul-02-11 01:49 PM
Response to Reply #1
 
3. I hate hate hate fireworks in the hands of unlicensed operators.

They're dangerous. They're loud. They're obnoxious. And they scare the crap out of my dogs.

idiots.

franksolich hates hates hates ballots in the hands of primitives.

backscatter712 (1000+ posts)        Sat Jul-02-11 01:48 PM
Response to Original message
 
2. Ah, the American tradition of drinking alcohol and playing with explosives!!!

I'll admit to participating myself...

backscatter712 (1000+ posts)        Sat Jul-02-11 01:50 PM
Response to Original message
 
4. Important safety tip. When playing with M-80s and other powerful (read illegal) fireworks,

Do not light then throw. Set it down, then light. That way, you don't get the nickname "Stumpy"!

EFerrari  (1000+ posts)        Sat Jul-02-11 01:51 PM
Response to Original message
 
5. I hate the 4rth up here because of this stuff.

It's so dry and the hillsides burn so quickly, I can't relax until this sh1t is over.

Kurmudgeon (482 posts)     Sat Jul-02-11 01:55 PM
Response to Reply #5
 
6. Same here, I live rural and won't have fireworks on my property.

[GOBUCKS]

EFerrari  (1000+ posts)        Sat Jul-02-11 01:51 PM
Response to Original message
 
5. I hate the 4rth up here because of this stuff.

It's so dry and the hillsides burn so quickly, I can't relax until this sh1t is over.

I guess I don't understand poor, stupid Beth's problem. She's way, way out in the middle of the California desert. There's a little heavily rutted jeep trail from the camping trailer out to the county dirt road. The only people around are poor, stupid Beth, her senile mother, and a few Mexicans trying to smooth the jeep trail enough to prevent poor, stupid Beth and Mom from being evicted. Who is shooting off these fireworks? Mexicans don't celebrate the Fourth, do they? Mom wouldn't remember how to strike a match. If it's not poor, stupid Beth, it has to be her son, if he's between stretches in jail for selling weed. If she wants to stop him from shooting fireworks, it just takes a call to his parole officer. Problem solved.

[BattleHymn]

I guess I don't understand poor, stupid Beth's problem. She's way, way out in the middle of the California desert. There's a little heavily rutted jeep trail from the camping trailer out to the county dirt road. The only people around are poor, stupid Beth, her senile mother, and a few Mexicans trying to smooth the jeep trail enough to prevent poor, stupid Beth and Mom from being evicted. Who is shooting off these fireworks? Mexicans don't celebrate the Fourth, do they? Mom wouldn't remember how to strike a match. If it's not poor, stupid Beth, it has to be her son, if he's between stretches in jail for selling weed. If she wants to stop him from shooting fireworks, it just takes a call to his parole officer. Problem solved.

GOBUCKS,

Beth may be worried that a stray firework or two may land in her leach field, marked on this diagram (courtesy of Skul) as "weeds".

I would search for "the effects of fireworks on methane gas", but my Google appears to be broken.  No doubt this is due to nadin burning up the servers searching in vain for stories about how the TSA is bankrupting airlines. 



(the original thread where I borrowed Sku's diagram)

[dandi]

Shoot, I remember when I was a kid a pack of firecrackers the most magical thing there was. They were illegal in Florida and almost impossible to find unless you could locate an occasional Mom 'n' Pop that sold them under the counter. They were usually bootlegged in from another state.

Nowadays they're still illegal for recreation but there are a couple of those fireworks "superstores" within a few miles of where I live that sell everything from firecrackers to near show-quality aerial bombs. They just don't enforce that law. I suppose if you had some wet blanket neighbors like the DUmbasses in that thread that complained to the cops they might send someone out but that's about it.

[JohnnyReb]

Well, they fire black powder rifles in some areas...me and son will fire off a few 12 ga. rounds. I don't think there's any laws against that.....yet.

....and yes I used to shoot M-80's, cherry bombs and quarter sticks of dynamite. It's just part of your southern heritage to steal a watermelon and make a lot of noise on the forth of July.

[I_B_Perky]

Anybody here ever have a firecracker go off in their hand? I did when I was 14. I lit the fuse, went to throw it and unfortunately for me that fuse was fast. Blew up in my hand. Wasn't too bad for about a half an hour. My hand was numb. After that my fingers felt like I had missed hammering a nail and hit my fingers. Hurt all damn night. My dad and uncle laughed their asses off. Lesson learned. I put firecrackers on the ground now before lighting them.

Do people blow their hands off and get burned? Yes. Tough shit. Their problem. Should they be outlawed? No. You wanna mess with devices that explode or burn, you take your chances. Darwin at work. I have no sympathy.

[Delmar]

Anybody here ever have a firecracker go off in their hand?

Me too.  When I was about 17 I lit a firecracker inside my car using only my right hand to hold not just the firecracker, but the cigarette lighter that I used to touch it off with too.  No real damage except soreness that felt like hyper-extension in my fingers from having my balled up hand violently flung open by the blast.  The way the cigarette lighter shot out of my hand was really something.  There were three other people in the car with me and they were amazed that I wasn't hurt.  Must've been cheap firecrackers, not the high power Black Cat brand.

[catsmtrods]

DUmbasses should not mess with explosives, that is true. Me on the other hand was making black powder pipe bombs at age 12! B4 that I would drill out an empty CO2 cartridge and fill it with blue tip match heads and stick a fuse in it. Then put it in a pipe and take aim! What fun!!

[JohnnyReb]

DUmbasses should not mess with explosives, that is true. Me on the other hand was making black powder pipe bombs at age 12! B4 that I would drill out an empty CO2 cartridge and fill it with blue tip match heads and stick a fuse in it. Then put it in a pipe and take aim! What fun!!

Reminds me of "PEE-WEE" Gaskins. While he was on death row he made a bomb from matches and blew the head off a fellow death row inmate...for money...