Officials fear New Year's fireworks will ignite tragedy

[sunny]

Y'all have fun, but be careful out there, okay?

from neworleanscitybusiness.com



Officials fear New Year's fireworks will ignite tragedy
By AP

2005-12-28 10:59 AM CST

NEW ORLEANS (AP) - As if falling bullets weren't enough to worry about on New Year's Eve, authorities along the Gulf Coast are concerned that smoldering fireworks could ignite the ubiquitous blue plastic tarps covering storm-damaged roofs.

"Any kind of firework that shoots into the air and pops, pops debris all over the place. Some is smoldering and burning," said Chris Kaufmann, chief of a fire protection district in St. Tammany Parish. "If it lands on top of those blue roofs, I'm definitely concerned about it igniting."

The new fire hazard has added another element to traditional New Year's Eve admonitions by law enforcement agencies that are usually more concerned with problems common to other urban areas such as combatting drunken driving and the practice of firing guns into the air to celebrate the New Year.

In the New Orleans suburb of Jefferson Parish, Sheriff Harry Lee held a news conference this week to warn against shooting off fireworks and said his deputies will be ready to seize fireworks and hand out tickets.

Kaufmann wanted to see how flammable the tarps were, so he hung a 2-foot-by-2-foot square over a sidewalk and used a fire starter to light one edge. "Within seconds, the tarpaulin ignited and burned freely, with flame showing the entire time," he said. "It didn't just melt and crinkle itself up like some plastics do."

Kaufmann, whose district covers about 125 square miles, noted that fireworks also could break through a tarp without setting fire to it, then start a fire inside the house.

If people want to pop fireworks, they should do so at least 100 feet from any buildings, he said.

In addition to blue roofs, the storms left a lot of broken trees, branches and other debris. Many of those are still piled up on curbs and roadsides "and could easily ignite if a firework comes down in them," Kaufmann said.•

[canegrl04]

Officials in Texas fear the same thing but for another reason. High fire danger The drought here is so bad.The worst since 1956.Its suppose to be very warm and windy on New years Day

[EDR1222]

Recently the loophole in the law here in Brevard County Florida that made it easy to purchase fireworks was closed when County commisioners voted that a permit needed to be shown when purchasing fireworks. You use to be able to just sign a piece of paper saying that you were using the fireworks to scare off birds from agricultural areas or to illumiate train tracks. Now you must show a permit that authorizes such use.

That is going to curb fireworks in this area somewhat, although there will still be plenty of them I would assume. Hopefully all those using them will use caution.