First, let me say that I am not against the use of fireworks by responsible folks...this is directed only at the DARWIN AWARD candidates
Well...I was on duty New Years Eve, here in a rural area full of homes on 80' x 120' lots with hundreds of tall, dried up palm trees...and other thick landscaping vegitation.
We knew we were in for "amateur night" (amateur drinkers, amateur pyrotechnic experts, ect. ect.)
Lets see...the first of 11 fireworks related calls we responded to was at about 10:00 PM, when someone set the top of his neighbor's 30' tall palm tree on fire with a rocket of some kind.
Then there was a vacant lot set on fire (also by fireworks)
Next, someone lit one of those big mortars on their front porch, and accidentally kicked it over when they ran away.
It fell over in the direction of the opened front door...and shot that big ball of sparks, smoke, and fire right into the living room.
Several more trees were taken out by rockets throughout the night.
Some kids had a huge party at this one house that sits just down the road from a 3 way intersection, and set off so many fireworks that the smoke literally made visibility about ten feet.
Then, one of the party-goers (drunk, of course) got into his pickup truck, and proceeded to drive right through the stop sign (which he could not see because of the smoke) at about 30 MPH...and crashed straight into the side of a house.
Then somebody lit a roman candle...and, when it did not immediately work...decided to look down the "muzzle" to see what was wrong.
Guess what happened next.
(he got lucky...it got him in the forehead, and took out the front part of his hairdo)
Some people tried to put on a "professional" style fireworks display in their back yard, with two rows of mortars and rockets securely fastened to a picnic bench, and all tied into one fuze.
Well...the first mortar to shoot off made the bench fall over, resulting in an artillery fire mission directed at the house accross the canal in the back yard.
Ahh...New Years Eve.
(Cant wait for July 4th)