Fireworks and Saftey
On July 05, 2009 the State of Wisconsin experienced the largest structure fire in the States history. A citizen launched a military flare near the Patrick Cudahy plant in south-eastern Milwaukee County. The result was a nightmare.
The Patrick Cudahy plant caught fire and burned like it would never go out. People within a 1 mile radius of the fire were evacuated as a precaution, because flames were nearing the area of the plant that had chemical storage tanks. Fire departments from surrounding area’s came to help battle the blaze, and law enforcement from entirely different counties were called in during the evacuation to help patrol the streets and detour criminal activity during the emergency.
It took some time, but an arrest was eventually made in this horrific matter.
This incident affected the jobs of thousands of people that work for Patrick Cudahy. Many were losing hours, as others that weren’t out of work had to attend to the matters at hand, … cleaning up and putting the company back together.
The cost of this fire is unthinkable. The property that was lost. The large number of people out of work. The way the incident had emergency responses from all over south-eastern Wisconsin. Then the enormous hit that the insurance industry took because of this incident.
Wisconsin has some strict fireworks laws. There are no gray area’s in these laws, they’re very clear.
This is a incident that pushed me to walk into a local hospital and get a doctors explanation of the dangers involved with personal fireworks use.
The doctor I spoke with said “I wish people wouldn’t use fireworks. In addition to irreversible hearing and vision loss, flesh injuries can happen that may require stitches. Burns can happen very easily. In some cases fingers can be lost, especially with younger people that have smaller hands”.
Two days after talking to that doctor, I bumped into a local firefighter in the check out line at a gas station. I asked him how he felt about the personal use of fireworks. His response was “I wouldn’t. Not all that stuff is dependable. That’s one reason why its illegal. They’re not safe at all. You could have something blow too soon which could hurt you, or something could launch to a area where you didn’t want it to go. If something zooms into a house, garage or even under a car that has a gas leak, you could have big trouble. Just don’t mess with it.”
Okay after these two interviews, I have to ask myself “why aren’t local governments doing anything to kill the sales of these items?”
That’s a pretty good place to start. If someone wants to put up some sort of fireworks stand in your city, town or village, … the local government in question should simply say ‘NO’.
How can you enjoy fireworks on the fourth of July? Go to your local park and watch the fireworks shows that are put on by professionals. They’re the best, and you didn’t have to buy them to watch them.
Reporter Joseph Toth
Washington Micro Bank BBS
