Bonfire Night
Remember remember the fifth of November for the right reasons.
Having your own fireworks party or celebrating with family and friends can be great fun. But by far the safest way to enjoy these seasonal activities is to attend a professionally organised event.
If you are holding your own fireworks party please don’t put your family or friends at risk, follow the safety advice below for a safe home display:
Always remember to follow the fireworks code:
- Only buy fireworks marked BS 7114.
- Don’t drink alcohol if setting off fireworks.
- Keep fireworks in a closed box.
- Follow the instructions on each firework.
- Light them at arm’s length, using a taper.
- Stand well back.
- Never go near a firework that has been lit.
- Even if it hasn’t gone off, it could still explode.
- Never put fireworks in your pocket or throw them.
- Always supervise children around fireworks.
- Light sparklers one at a time and wear gloves.
- Never give sparklers to a child under five.
- Keep pets indoors.
Bonfire Night parties wouldn’t be the same with out a bonfire so before lighting the fire, check its construction carefully to make sure that it is stable, and that there are no children or animals inside.
Make one person responsible for the bonfire, and allow only that person and designated helpers into the bonfire area. Make sure your bonfire is at least 18 metres (60ft) away from houses, trees, hedges, fences or sheds. Only clean dry timber should be burned.
Bonfire safety advice:
- Use domestic firelighters to light your bonfire
- Keep some buckets of water nearby
- Do not use petrol, paraffin, diesel or other flammable liquids to light your bonfire
- Never burn aerosols, batteries, bottles , foam-filled furniture, tins of paint or tyres
A few interesting firework facts:
- A simple sparkler reaches a temperature of up to 2000ºc. That’s 20 times the boiling point of water.
- A typical rocket can reach up to 150 miles an hour.
- Half of all firework accidents happen to children under the age of 16.
- Three sparklers burning together generate the same heat as a blow-torch.
Click on the firework safety link for further firework safety advice.
