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OFFICIALS URGE SAFETY IN USING FIREWORKS

By Ray King/OF THE COMMERCIAL STAFF
Thursday, July 2, 2009 10:06 AM CDT

While fireworks are a traditional way to celebrate the Fourth of July holiday, they can also create serious injuries to users, and even onlookers.

Tanner Austin prices fireworks Wednesday afternoon at C and A Fireworks on highway 270 in White Hall. Pine Bluff Commercial/Ralph Fitzgerald

Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel said the federal Consumer Protection Division reported seven fireworks related deaths last year nationwide, and an estimated 7,000 hospital room treated injuries.

“Not only are they a potential public safety hazard, they’re illegal in the Pine Bluff city limits,” police Lt. Bob Rawlinson said, citing a Pine Bluff city ordinance. “Anybody that’s caught shooting them will not only have their fireworks confiscated, they will be issued a citation.”

Public displays

“We recommend that people take advantage of the display at Regional Park July 4, which is going to not only be free, but will be safe,” Rawlinson said.

Fireworks will begin at approximately 9:15 p.m. at Regional Park. Sponsored by the Pine Bluff Festival Association, the event will include the 4th annual Battle of the Bands beginning at 5 p.m.

Fireworks will also light up the sky over White Hall High School Stadium Saturday as the tradition of the Domon Memorial Fireworks Show continues. This year’s show will begin at 9:11 p.m. and the gates will be open by 8 p.m.

Fireworks sales

The attorney general said sales of fireworks are controlled by Arkansas’ Fireworks Act, which requires sellers to obtain a license in order to sell the items and restricts sellers to being 21 years old or older.

The law also prohibits the sale of fireworks to children under the age of 12 and to persons who are intoxicated, and requires that only fireworks that are designated as Class C are permitted to be sold to the public.

These include items like skyrockets, cylindrical fountains, cone fountains, wheels, Roman candles and firecrackers, and even those are restricted according to the amount of explosives they contain. Non-exploding items like sparklers can be sold at any time.

Preventing injuries

McDaniel said that even if the fireworks are legally purchased, they can still result in injuries or even death, and children are especially vulnerable, as one out of every three people injured were under the age of 15.

“Sparklers for example account for one-third of injuries to children under five,” he said.

For those that chose to use fireworks outside the city limits, McDaniel recommended buying them only from a licensed dealer, having water including a water hose and bucket, handy, lighting only one at a time, and never trying to re-light one that appears to be a “dud.”

He also suggested disposing of used fireworks by soaking them in water before dumping in a trash can, wearing eye protection, and never throwing or pointing them at other people.

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