INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — A call to the fire department or a trip to the emergency room: two things guaranteed to put a damper on Fourth of July festivities this weekend. Leading up to the holiday, local emergency officials have a few pieces of advice on staying safe and avoiding unnecessary injury and damage due to fireworks.
The number one way to stay in the clear is plain and simple, be a spectator.
“We recommend going to the public shows; we do not recommend purchasing fireworks,” said Lt. Richard Marini of Indian River County Fire Rescue.
An info-graphic distributed by the International Association of Fire Fighters shows 9,300 people are injured by fireworks annually. According to a 2013 National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) report, only about three percent of those injuries are caused by public display fireworks.
The most common places for injury are the hands and fingers, accounting for approximately 46 percent of fireworks related injuries according to the NFPA.
Injuries to the head, face, and ears follow at 17 percent, while another 17 percent of the injuries damage the eyes.
“If you’re going to use fireworks, use sparklers,” Marini said. “When you do set those off, make sure you’re not around anything combustible, use common sense, and don’t let little children use them.”
But even sparklers have the potential to do damage. According to the same 2013 report, 24 percent of fireworks related injuries were caused by sparklers.
Marini went on to stress the importance of keeping sparklers and all fireworks away from any type of brush that could catch fire.
The 2013 report said, “In 2011, an estimated 17,800 reported fires were started by fireworks. These fires resulted in an estimated 40 civilian injuries and $32 million in direct property damage, with no reported fire deaths.”
“On Independence Day,” the report continued, “fireworks account for two out of five of all reported fires, more than any other cause of fire.”
If all the warning signs are still not enough to deter people from setting off their own fireworks this weekend, the NFPA does have a few more safety tips to keep in mind: keep water on hand, aim fireworks away from flammable material and people, do not extend body parts over the device, and never relight a “dud” firework.
The cities Vero Beach and Sebastian will be hosting their own public fireworks displays on Friday. Vero’s starts at 9 p.m. at Riverside Park while Sebastian’s will begin at sundown.
