Be Smart…Leave the Fireworks to the Professionals
• Enjoy the many supervised professional displays!
All across the state there are many professional fireworks displays supervised by local fire departments. Unfortunately, too many children and adult amateurs continue to set off fireworks that start fires, and cause serious injuries to themselves and others.
• Fireworks can be deadly!
A 45-year old Gloucester woman died in a December 22, 2003 house fire when someone threw fireworks and ignited the Christmas tree in the living room. Three other people were injured. On May 20, 1997 a 26-year old man from Watertown was killed while he was lighting fireworks in a hallway. A 27-year old Framingham man was killed July 4, 1993, when his backyard fireworks exploded in his face. On July 4, 1992, fireworks fatally injured a 30-year old man on a Fairhaven beach.
• All fireworks are illegal in Massachusetts
The possession and use of all fireworks by private citizens is illegal in Massachusetts. This includes Class C fireworks which are sometimes falsely called “safe and sane” such as sparklers, party poppers, snappers, firecrackers, spinners and cherry bombs, to name a few. Sparklers burn at 1800 degrees Fahrenheit.
It is illegal to transport fireworks into Massachusetts, even if they were purchased legally elsewhere. Illegal fireworks can be confiscated on the spot.
• Do not purchase fireworks through mail-order or on-line catalogues
The distribution of mail-order catalogues that clearly state that fireworks are illegal in some jurisdictions cannot be prohibited. State and local police regularly confiscate illegal shipments of fireworks into Massachusetts. Many unhappy consumers have lost both their money and the fireworks trying to circumvent the law.
• Set a good example for your children. Children imitate what they see adults do
If you use fireworks children will imitate you, not realizing how very dangerous they are. Sixty percent of the fireworks-related burn injuries reported by hospitals to the Office of the State Fire Marshal were children under age 18.
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