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Show Fireworks Need Caution Garfield County residents need to "open their eyes" to the dangers of fireworks according to the professional pro-fessional staff at the Dixie Eye Center in St. George. It is routinely thought that only a very few people are seriously injured in-jured by fireworks each year. But the fact is that almost 10,000 people peo-ple are injured by fireworks every year. Of those 10,000 injuries 1600 involve the eye, and 40 percent per-cent of those result in permanent eye damage. Average fuse burning time is not even 15 seconds according accord-ing to consumer product safety commission performance standards, retail fireworks must have fuses which burn for 3-6 seconds. Many people feel that the hand held sparklers are safe, but sparklers burn at 1800 degrees Fahrenheit, which is almost hot enough to melt gold. Pieces flying from sparklers, striking the eye, have caused total blindness. Making your own fireworks is not safe either. Even if you are using us-ing an advertised fireworks construction con-struction kit. Mixing and loading chemical powders is very dangerous and can result in explosions which blind or maim users. Pipe bombs made with match heads can exceed the explosive force of a stick of dynamite. dy-namite. Being just a spectator is not safe either. In one study, 40 percent of those suffering eye injuries were just bystanders. Eye goggles are strongly recommended for anyone using fireworks, including sparklers and for anyone observing as a bystander. by-stander. The safest place to enjoy fireworks, fire-works, though, is at a community sponsored display. Experts recommend recom-mend that igniting, detonating, and handling the fireworks, be left to professionals. |