Hide your dogs (and have a safety talk with your kids) the summer fireworks season is here. From May 20 to July 6 fireworks may be purchased legally in Arizona. In the winter, you can buy fireworks from Dec. 10 to Jan. 3. They can be set off from June 24 to July 6 in summer and in the winter from Dec. 24 to Jan. 3.
Of course, not all fireworks are legal, and even the legal types pose real risks of fire, burns, and other injuries. Here’s a rundown of the legal guidelines and safety tips for fireworks festivities in Arizona:
Several kinds of fireworks are legal to use in Arizona, including cone and cylindrical fountains, wheels, ground spinners, illuminating torches, ground sparkling devices and handheld sparklers.
Fountain-style fireworks sit on the ground and shoot sprays of colored sparks into the air directly above them. Torches and ground sparklers typically spout colored flames or sparks, similar to the fountains but on a smaller scale. Ground spinners whirl and scream – keep an eye on those and give them plenty of space before igniting.
Handheld sparklers, the thin silver sticks that emit bright sparks as they burn down from the end, are a staple firework. Don’t let that fool you though, sparklers do pose serious burn risks, especially for children, as the heated end can reach 1,800+ degrees. Children often burn their feet when they drop sparklers because they feel too hot (or scary) to hold. Closed toed shoes, pants, and close supervision will help prevent injury.
In Arizona, the general rule of thumb is that ground-based fireworks are permitted, while fireworks that detonate in the air are not. The Phoenix Fire Department has detailed fireworks information up on their site. Restricted fireworks include bottle rockets, Roman candles, sky rockets, firecrackers, single-tube devices with reports, re-loadable shell devices, and other aerials.
Bottle rockets and sky rockets are generally smaller aerials, usually attached to a stick that goes into the ground to point them into the air for launch. Roman candles are packaged in a long, handheld tube that fires a number of explosive colored projectiles from the end. The other types generally use re-loadable tubes to launch exploding shells into the air (the smaller scale version of what’s generally used for official fireworks shows).
Firecrackers are one exception to the “ground-based is ok” rule of thumb. Firecrackers usually look like the fireworks in old cartoons – small red cylinders, often linked together with a long fuse that burns through and explodes a larger series. They make a lot of noise, but they also cause quite a few burns and injuries every year (thus their outlaw status).
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