VIDEO: Firework Safety

TUPELO, Miss. (WCBI)- This weekend there will be a lot of people getting an early start on their 4th of July celebrations.

This fireworks stand west of Tupelo is operated by Buddy and Susan Buchanan. And they believe it is very important when using fireworks to take common sense steps to avoid trouble.

“They need to make sure they’re in an area that if it goes off it’s not going to start a fire. If you get the canisters make sure you set them up on a good level ground so they won’t fall over. And make sure you put them in the right way. They’ve gotten a lot better with these fireworks and they label the top so when you drop them down in it, you know which way is the top. If you put it in upside down the thing will blow up right there on the ground and the big ball of fire you see in the sky will be right there at your feet,” says Mr. Buchanan.

Buchanan says a reloadable rocket is particularly problematic.

“You’ve got a tube with it. And you have about six shots or and you can drop that shot down in there and light it and have a firework then whenever you get ready you can do another one. I think they recommend that you wait about 30 seconds between each shot to give that tube time to clear off and be sure there’s no fire down in it,” says Mr. Buchanan.

“The big reloadables like this backyard hero and some of the ones in the back, those are the ones that scare me the most as far as people lighting them because like you say if you do put one in upside down it will go off and instead of it coming out of the top of the tube it’s going to come out the bottom towards you and so that would be very bad and the Roman Candles because they will sometimes backfire on you,” says Mrs. Buchanan.

The Buchanans say there are particular safety precautions when it comes to children.

“With the younger children I always recommend that they have a parent helping them and watching them making sure that they’re not setting their fireworks up or shooting them off in a place that might cause a fire or cause them to be injured,” says Mr. Buchanan.

Children love sparklers.

“And I recommend wooden stick sparklers over the metal stick because when they hold them and it gets down to the end those metal sticks will get hot and burn their little fingers,” says Mr. Buchanan.

One of the key things about safety with fireworks is the actual lighting of the fireworks. And Buchanan’s recommend using this stick like device called a punk. You simply light the punk like this and once it’s lit, it stays lit and you can use it to light multiple fireworks without fears of it blowing out like a match or a cigarette lighter.

“I have seen those big lighters blow up on people,” says Mr. Buchanan.

In case of fire always have a extinguisher ready, or if you’re at home you can use a water hose.

“Especially in the summertime it would be wise to have a water hose close by or something so that if you did start a grass fire you could put it out or something you could beat it out with quickly so that wouldn’t get out of control on you,” says Mrs. Buchanan.

But if there is no water source, by all means take an extinguisher.