Celebrating safely
As you've probably already heard during the past two evenings, fireworks season is upon us. The Fourth of July holiday is but five days away.
With it comes the annual ritual enjoyed by so many of us of setting up then blowing up mini pyrotechnic displays.
With it also comes our annual plea to enjoy your fireworks safely and courteously. Too many serious injuries are suffered every year because of inattentiveness and plain foolish behavior.
In order to help reduce needless harm to northwest Kansans as we celebrate Independence Day, we offer these tips from the National Council on Fireworks Safety:
* Please treat fireworks with respect, read all of the cautions and warnings and use common sense. Lighting fireworks indoors, throwing them from automobiles and lighting multiple devices at the same time can lead to accidents and are not how fireworks are intended to be used.
* If you see someone misusing fireworks, stop them. Show them the correct way to use consumer fireworks and do not ever use professional fireworks or illegal explosives. Do your part and everyone will be safer.
* Use fireworks and sparklers only outdoors.
* Only persons over 12 years of age should handle sparklers of any type. Too many young people get burned by sparklers every year. By keeping sparkers out of youngsters, we can reduce these injury rates.
* Obey local laws. If fireworks are not legal where you are, don't use them. If drought conditions mean a ban on fireworks, follow the law.
* Only use fireworks as intended. Don't try to alter them or combine them.
* Fireworks and alcohol do not mix. Have a designated "shooter."
* When all else fails, use common sense. Respect fireworks and sparklers as the great American tradition they are, but also respect the fact that they must be used with caution.
We don't intend to come across as spoilsports as we celebrate our country's biggest holiday spectacle in the sky. We merely want everybody to be around -- in the same condition -- for next year's Independence Day celebration.
Editorial by Patrick Lowry
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