Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: redman555 on July 06, 2011, 10:05:50 PM
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Well, sat night we were doing our neighborhood fireworks, well I lean over to light one of the fireworks, next thing I see is a flash....it exploded like a bomb...i got 1st and 2nd degree burns on face, and 2nd and 3rd degree burns on my right hand. So just sayin, be careful guys. Was by far the most painful 90 min of my life. Till they got me shot up with enough pain killer to kill a horse. Prolly wont be on for a week or so.
-BigBOBCH
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That's awful. Is there any safety equipment to wear when handling fireworks?
-Penguin
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No clue, but I will NEVER go within 50 yards of a firework EVER again. Cant even explain the pain. It felt like someone put a Clothing iron on my hand and smashed it down. Same for my face.
-BigBOBCH
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That's awful. Is there any safety equipment to wear when handling fireworks?
-Penguin
HA! safety equipment :lol That's why whenever i light up my fireworks i keep my body away from the tube.unless it's a bottle rocket then i light that thing up in my hand. But i know a guy that tied up two mortars and ended up blowing off his fingers in his left hand...no need for equipment.just have to be smart.
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Yes but rattler, this literally EXPLODED within a second of ignition, idk if it was the fuse or what.
-BigBOBCH
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No clue, but I will NEVER go within 50 yards of a firework EVER again. Cant even explain the pain. It felt like someone put a Clothing iron on my hand and smashed it down. Same for my face.
-BigBOBCH
My nephew was telling me about an experience he had, similar to that. He said as soon as he lit the wick, the thing went off in his hand.
'He's 23 years old' btw, not a kid, but he's ok too.
Yep BigBOBCH, I don't believe those things are worth the trouble. Especially for folks who live in those dry climates, like California, and
any other ones. Geography is not one of my strong points.
:cheers: Coogan
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It exploded that quickly? I don't mean to belittle you, but are you sure that you lit the fuse, and not the explosive itself? Also, did you read the instruction manual and see if there was anything about using safety cord?
-Penguin
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Yes Penguin, something was wrong with the firework. Idk if when it was being shipped if it got pinched and causes pressure or what, but I lit the little wick and it went off in probably .25 seconds....right when I saw the flash I closed my eyes. The ER doc said I prolly would have lost vision in right eye if I didnt close it.
-BigBOBCH
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You're lucky to have gotten away with what you did, considering what happened to you. I hope you recover without any disfigurement. :salute
-Penguin
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Thanks, yeah they sent me to UC Davis Burn center from Sutter Medical Center about 5 hours after I went in. To reduce scaring they cut all the blisters off my hand so it should heal fine. my face is mostly 1st degree burns, so im having a lot of peeling and raw skin, my lips are pretty bad, gotta keep vasaline on em all day and wash my face 4-5 times a day. It was the most painful thing thats ever happened in my life. The best I can explain it is a clothing iron on max heat being pressed on your hand and face for around 90 min....
-BigBOBCH
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Modern medicine is amazing. You should get away with only a couple of scars.
-Penguin
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Yeah, im hoping.
-BigBOBCH
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Punks are your friend. http://www.libertyfireworks.com/punks.htm (http://www.libertyfireworks.com/punks.htm)
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Oh, and the worst part...my goatee and mustache got seared lol...so I will have to shave them off...and my eye brows and eye lashes are burnt.
-BigBOBCH
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Fireworks were oputlawed here this season because of no rain.
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Oh, and the worst part...my goatee and mustache got seared lol...so I will have to shave them off...and my eye brows and eye lashes are burnt.
-BigBOBCH
I'd like to see a picture of this.
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Burned off all my arm hair on my left arm trying to light 3 fountains at once, and my hat fell off and got lit. It sucks but proves the point of how dangerous they are.
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Down here in Florida all you hear this week is nothing but fireworks going off.gets a bit annoying after a while. I remember when we had to mortars next to each other and one of them went off a bit earlier than the other. I guess the small explosion knocked the other tube over and was aimed straight at my house....lucky it went off in mid-fall and exploded in a neighbors back yard....now their cat goes crazy whenever july and new years comes around :lol :D :rofl
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Burned off all my arm hair on my left arm trying to light 3 fountains at once, and my hat fell off and got lit. It sucks but proves the point of how dangerous they are.
I doubt losing hair on your arm and having your hat fall off classify as 'proving how dangerous' fireworks are.
BigBob, sounds like a helluva story to tell the little ones :D
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I doubt losing hair on your arm and having your hat fall off classify as 'proving how dangerous' fireworks are.
BigBob, sounds like a helluva story to tell the little ones :D
Well I think anything that explodes is dangerous, its common sense which alot of people could truly need these days. Like I said before fireworks are illegal in Georgia because people were being stupid with them and shooting mortars at each other. I choose to be really safe, light and run back then repeat set up. Sure burning my arm hair was nothing serious but it could be alot worse if I didn't proceed with caution, er whatever understand my point.
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Fireworks were oputlawed here this season because of no rain.
That is something northern California definitely didn't have this year, "no rain".
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Well I think anything that explodes is dangerous
Did you know that there's an explosion and chemical reaction when you open up a can of pop?
It's awfully dangerous, I really wish they'd outlaw those evil cans.
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Well, sat night we were doing our neighborhood fireworks, well I lean over to light one of the fireworks, next thing I see is a flash....it exploded like a bomb...i got 1st and 2nd degree burns on face, and 2nd and 3rd degree burns on my right hand. So just sayin, be careful guys. Was by far the most painful 90 min of my life. Till they got me shot up with enough pain killer to kill a horse. Prolly wont be on for a week or so.
-BigBOBCH
glad you didn't kill yourself, and get well dood!!! burns suck. suffered a few way back when i used to run a kitchen.
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Did you know that there's an explosion and chemical reaction when you open up a can of pop?
It's awfully dangerous, I really wish they'd outlaw those evil cans.
You know instead of hating me channel your anger or whatever motivates you towards a more constructive outlet that doesn't involve pissing me off.
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You know instead of hating me channel your anger or whatever motivates you towards a more constructive outlet that doesn't involve pissing me off.
I'm sorry that you think that I hate you and that I 'piss you off' so easily.
Instead of stomping your feet and throwing a temper tantrum, perhaps you
should open your eyes to joys and wonders of sarcasm.
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That is something northern California definitely didn't have this year, "no rain".
went to a block party in Long Beach CA,2100$ of fireworks lit off that night.
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Even if you are really careful something is bound to go wrong. Quick fuses, human error, duds that dive into the box full of fireworks. < Happened years ago at a party. 3rd one to go off..pufff..right into the box of fireworks. It was over in a flash..and a few bangs.
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Did he survive?
-Penguin
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Even if you are really careful something is bound to go wrong. Quick fuses, human error, duds that dive into the box full of fireworks. < Happened years ago at a party. 3rd one to go off..pufff..right into the box of fireworks. It was over in a flash..and a few bangs.
blah I hate duds, they go into the box and nothing happens, then I go and kick it over and BAM set the darn lawn on fire. Happened last year, this year went by without much of a hitch, except for my hat and arm but thats whatever.
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I hope you heal up well, and with as little lingering pain as possible!
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Fireworks were oputlawed here this season because of no rain.
No fireworks here either. It was a felony to light any kind of firework this year no matter how small it was. Thats what happens though when it doesn't rain for a months and months.
As for getting hurt I've been pretty lucky with fireworks. I've had one firecracker go off in my hand and one artillery shell that came out of the tube, went about 5 ft in the air and went off about 10 ft from me. other than that nothing bad has happened to me. Knock on wood.
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I hope you get better soon.
Just thank your lucky stars, it could have been worse... http://www.grandforksherald.com/event/article/id/208805 (http://www.grandforksherald.com/event/article/id/208805)
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That happened to me at a party in 1999. I was intoxicated and it was early in the morning :) An unexploded mortar round had been gashed open and I thought it would be cool to light it up. WRONG!
Thankfully it wasn't as bad as your injuries but my thumb had very serious 2nd degree burns. My entire thumb blistered and it looked like this guy.>>> :aok
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This happened a few miles from where my mother lives in NY.
The guy lost his arm, this year the ran the same story about it to discourage people from using them.
http://articles.cnn.com/2010-07-04/us/new.york.fireworks.arm.loss_1_fireworks-related-injury-metal-or-glass-containers-lighting?_s=PM:US
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We light off $1,500 or so every year. We start by screwing all the launch tubes to 4 x 8 sheets of plywood to prevent tipping. It's usually my cousin, bother and myself lighting them and we all use long tipped torches to keep our hands as far away as possible.
Over the years we have had a few small misfires/failed launches, but we expect that and are already prepared for it.
In case of fire, there is always a few pitchers of beer within 2 or 3 ft too.
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In TX firework displays were limited to ones done over lakes, due to the bad fire season. Apparently at one point over 90% of all TX counties had a major uncontrolled fire earlier this spring. Not good.
As for what sort of protection to wear, you can get a ton of protection with a simple plastic face shield, long-sleeve shirts, and leather gloves. That'll protect you from most flash fires and burns, but if something detonates in your hand you're still screwed even wearing heavy gloves.
The best bet for lighting fireworks is to properly brace the fireworks in some sort of frame, then attach a slow burn fuse (punk) to a long stick and light them from a distance. That still won't work 100% of the time but it can greatly reduce the risk.
Oh yea, don't do fireworks after drinking alcohol because people usually quit following their own very sensible safety rules after just a few drinks... Even a "safe" fireworks plan can turn stupidly dangerous when alcohol enters the picture.
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Years back I had second and third degree burns from an exploding radiator.
I would not wish that on anyone.
God luck on your healing process.
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Years back I had second and third degree burns from an exploding radiator.
I would not wish that on anyone.
God luck on your healing process.
you would be shocked at how many people do that. they seem to think they're gonna dodge that boiling coolant,.....
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had something happen like this happen to my dad. there is a lake behind my house with a barge in it. well we had some 6 INCHers on it. and this was all wirelessly controlled well as he pushed the butten one of them blew up sinking the barge. if he would have been on it he would have been killed. all i can say is anything over 3in use wireless lighting or a long fuse.
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Yes but rattler, this literally EXPLODED within a second of ignition, idk if it was the fuse or what.
-BigBOBCH
Bad fuse is possible, but most likely and number one cause with small cardboard mortar tubes is that you had recently fired a mortar and were reusing/reloading a hot tube that hadn't been cleared (and that's asking for trouble). I'm really sorry ya got burned man, it sucks and I hope you recover quickly, those type of burns are HOT, but I'd also like to say you're lucky it was only with a small mortar (it sounds like). Especialy with cradboard or heavy-duty PVC (which usualy has a wooden plug nailed and sealed at the bottom) they can smolder for a while and I've cleared tubes after firework shows ~45 minute afterwards and still had smoldering pieces of trash/junk come out, grateful they were only being used for single-shots and electric ignition (as opposed to reloading and hand-lighting operations).
Hopefuly next year you'll be celebrating again with fireworks, just taking a safer aproach (rotate multiple tubes, knock em out and clear em after a shot, crouch down and next to them a full arms length, not over them, quickly and smoothly drop the shell in and clear your hand from the top, etc.. never pack the shells down, they should slide freely to the bottom).
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had something happen like this happen to my dad. there is a lake behind my house with a barge in it. well we had some 6 INCHers on it. and this was all wirelessly controlled well as he pushed the butten one of them blew up sinking the barge. if he would have been on it he would have been killed. all i can say is anything over 3in use wireless lighting or a long fuse.
Most states you have to be licensed to be in possesion of +3"ers, nevermind set them off. Most people think a 6" is just a double 3"er, but it's far and not, take great caution. Been a while, but if I recall correctly in CA you can't set off anything larger than 4" except in steel tubes. 4" and down is steel or high-desity PVC (oil/refinery industry grade). 2.5" and down is steel, HPVC, or cardboard. They define what materials you can use for the tubes based on that they can handle the round flowerpotting (pre-detonation of the entire round in the base of the tube, all at once). Then you have to take into account that not all mortar rounds are built the same or anywhere near properly, and that's why I haven't worked any shows in many years.
I got stuck on one show that had boxes and boxes of 7+ yo made in china 4"ers, 6"ers and 8"ers. We made fun that some chinese fireworks are so poorly constructed because they were made by single working at home moms, cooking dinner and breast feeding a child, while hand-manufacturing fireworks on the kitchen table. Well, this shipment we got stuck with must of been made, in the nicest terms I can think of, by one with 12 children and a very bad opium habit. They were labeled and supposed to be pre-squibed (electric squib ignitors), most were not and had to be hand squibed. Many couldn't be hand squibed because they weren't constructed properly (or falling apart), and it's a major fine to repack (manufacture) a mortar round in the back of a uhaul at the show site, but we had to for a couple dozen so we could put on a show (and afterwards those rounds were some of the few that worked as they should of). It was a nightmare when it came show time, ~60 out of ~170 primed mortars failed in one way or the other: breaches, flowerpots, duds, knocked-downs (one mortar in a rack of four would breach, knocking down or ejecting unspent tubes in that rack, resulting in grounded mortars or "duds" as they got ripped from their wiring harnesses). After playing a game of ballistic dodgeball, putting the fires out and the preliminary insurance papers filed, I told the company that if they ever would stick me in a situation like that again, to not call me, and they haven't since.
Largest mortars I've ever worked have been 10"ers at Dodger statium, and those were always fun, especialy setting off half the car alarms in the parking lot, and one night we assume the concusion from one of the 10"ers cracked the windshield on the rental truck parked over 100 yards away.
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Ha good read. :)
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The other night, a guy was hit in throat by an artillery shell. He was DOA.
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It wasnt an airborn firework, I set it down in the street and lit it.
-BigBOBCH
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What kind of firework was it?
Here in IL the only legal fireworks according to the state are sparklers, snakes, and snap N pops, smoke bombs. Think cones are illegal. Needless to say I was one of the hoarde going to missouri to get the good stuff. IL has become a nanny state lately.
I had an unusually high number of misfires this year, and they all were the brand called "the works", came out of Pacific, MO. About 20% of that brand was crap and one of them was a mortar shell. First shell blew didnt launch out of the tube which the resulting explosion made the cardboard tube into miniature sized parts. But since I have seen them happen before I light the fuse and have enough time to get about 50 feet away before its launched. I dont take chances with those, I light it and get away fast
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Was just a normal firework, one you put on the ground and light, and sparks and stuff come out the top.
-BigBOBCH
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Fountain/cone?
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Yeah a fountain.
-BigBOBCH
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i require photographic evidence.
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i require photographic evidence.
I would post my hand, but I cant take the gozz off, or however you spell it. The entire top of 4 of my fingers are skinned, and my thumb is skinned on the tip. The gozz dries on so if I pull it off it will rip the new skin off. And my face has stopped pealing and is should be healed by monday.
-BigBOBCH
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Ya banned in az , we just had massive forest fire here Sierra vista burned 50 some homes. Six homes burned down across the street from mine. Anyway they banned the fireworks display in town because of it, most people gunshy. Didn't stop a neighbor from making home made ones. Ooops he blew off half his hand, very sad fingers missing not much left but a stump.
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made a home made rocket launcher that goes under an air soft gun, first 2 launches were good then the third one it stuck in the tube and the bottle rocket exploded, the tube held most of the blast but it would not have mattered the second I saw it didn't come out I threw the gun to the ground and ran, guns broken because water got into the parts because the ground was a swamp. Another reason why I did it, was pouring down rain and everything was soaked, no fire risk at all.
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Yes but rattler, this literally EXPLODED within a second of ignition, idk if it was the fuse or what.
-BigBOBCH
Fireworks can have defective fuses that burn instantly. That's why in Finland it's mandatory to use protective goggles when shooting fireworks. Many eye-injuries happened, usually the worst effect of mishap.
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get a lawyer. damned chinese and ameri-indians are loaded $$$ these days.
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Redman555,
I hope your injuries heal quickly and leave no lasting impairments. Get well, soon, Sir!
<patches mounts soapbox>
I've never really understood why we teach our children to not play with fire and matches, and then, once a year tell them its OK to play with, matches and explosives. And, to top that off, we give our youngest children sparklers to play with that can burn at temperatures up to 3000 degrees Fahrenheit, and without protective equipment of any kind.
I'm not a prude; I enjoy a good fireworks show; but I leave it to the professionals to entertain me and, I'm willing to pay them for that entertainment and the margin of personal safety that allows me and my loved ones to enjoy the show injury free.
A high school classmate blew off the middle, ring, and little fingers of his left hand while making a homemade firework. He also lost his right hand at the wrist and his face and forearms were severly scarred from the burns incurred. He lost his right eye, but survived. That was the good news.
His dream was to study medicine and become a surgeon. He had the drive, the motivation, and the intelligence to succeed in his dream. That was the bad news. From this...he has yet to recover.
<patches dismounts soapbox>
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Most states you have to be licensed to be in possesion of +3"ers, nevermind set them off. Most people think a 6" is just a double 3"er, but it's far and not, take great caution. Been a while, but if I recall correctly in CA you can't set off anything larger than 4" except in steel tubes. 4" and down is steel or high-desity PVC (oil/refinery industry grade). 2.5" and down is steel, HPVC, or cardboard. They define what materials you can use for the tubes based on that they can handle the round flowerpotting (pre-detonation of the entire round in the base of the tube, all at once). Then you have to take into account that not all mortar rounds are built the same or anywhere near properly, and that's why I haven't worked any shows in many years.
I got stuck on one show that had boxes and boxes of 7+ yo made in china 4"ers, 6"ers and 8"ers. We made fun that some chinese fireworks are so poorly constructed because they were made by single working at home moms, cooking dinner and breast feeding a child, while hand-manufacturing fireworks on the kitchen table. Well, this shipment we got stuck with must of been made, in the nicest terms I can think of, by one with 12 children and a very bad opium habit. They were labeled and supposed to be pre-squibed (electric squib ignitors), most were not and had to be hand squibed. Many couldn't be hand squibed because they weren't constructed properly (or falling apart), and it's a major fine to repack (manufacture) a mortar round in the back of a uhaul at the show site, but we had to for a couple dozen so we could put on a show (and afterwards those rounds were some of the few that worked as they should of). It was a nightmare when it came show time, ~60 out of ~170 primed mortars failed in one way or the other: breaches, flowerpots, duds, knocked-downs (one mortar in a rack of four would breach, knocking down or ejecting unspent tubes in that rack, resulting in grounded mortars or "duds" as they got ripped from their wiring harnesses). After playing a game of ballistic dodgeball, putting the fires out and the preliminary insurance papers filed, I told the company that if they ever would stick me in a situation like that again, to not call me, and they haven't since.
Largest mortars I've ever worked have been 10"ers at Dodger statium, and those were always fun, especialy setting off half the car alarms in the parking lot, and one night we assume the concusion from one of the 10"ers cracked the windshield on the rental truck parked over 100 yards away.
we are licensed up to 6inchers. most of the time the cops will sit and wacth it to :D
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we are licensed up to 6inchers. most of the time the cops will sit and wacth it to :D
I'm sure they are smaller. :ahand
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A couple Dodger games I remember we couldn't shoot anything larger than, I think, 6"ers due to extreme fire hazard. The larger mortars had a nasty habit of lighting up nearby eucalyptus and palm trees when the weather and conditions were right, and during those particular summers I remember the palms being so dry that a couple bettles humping in one could set it aflame.
That kinda is concerning Redman, would you say it was a bad instant fuse or that it was the entire firework including the fuse, as it sounds like it all violently detonated at once to get such a jump on you, rather than a controlled release/spurting/fountain?
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Truthfully, it must have been both. Cause that fuse was in the firework before I could even turn.
-BigBOBCH
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sounds like you lit toilet paper painted green lol....seriously though that can happen to anyone
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Fireworks were oputlawed here this season because of no rain.
Not here. They were legalized last winter. Can't even remember the last time it rained. I'm in the Phoenix valley.
You still can't buy the big stuff though unless you go to the reservations.