Fireworks hazards
Ron Kanterman
Fireworks Safety Consultant
No. Plainfield, New Jersey
Well, it finally happened! Someone in the fireworks business and a proponent of the industry actually wrote about the inherent dangers of the use, storage, and transportation of fireworks (“Fireworks and Their Hazards,” Thomas J. Poulton and Kenneth L. Kosanke, June 1995). The authors covered all of the bases from where I sit. I`ve been involved with fireworks safety, specifically for the fire service, since 1988 and applaud the article and manner in which it was presented. Not many in the industry would admit to “an explosion en masse” from a truck loaded with Class B aerial shells, specifically flash salutes. (It should be noted that due to the compounds and chemicals used in salutes and reports, they are required to be stored as Class A explosives in the properly rated magazines at manufacturing facilities.) A tip of the helmet to the authors for an honest and valuable report!
