Every New Year’s, we looked forward to the new lineup of stronger fireworks. My brother and I headed out the vendors street that sold all the fireworks. After scoping out the new inventory, we crunched out number asked for a bundle package, and then made our purchase. On December 31th, the neighborhood kids would get together at our house, as our street was the longest and most secluded in the block. We would first sort the fireworks by size, power and most purchased. Then, created a list of which purchased what and who would light what. After this was all set and done, we would head back in our house to grab some snacks and drinks and right at midnight, we would start the firework show for all the parents. My favorite part was, there was always an older kid monitoring the younger kids lighting up the fireworks. Safety was always our #1 goal. If you did not follow the safety guidelines set in by the older kids, you got a time out. Let me tell you, at 7 years of age, getting a time out during fireworks, was emotionally painful. The safety guidelines we still follow to this day are: have an adult supervise, never point a firework at anyone, light one firework at a time.
The older kids took the place of an adult and supervised the younger kids while lighting the fireworks. I must admit, it was well organized. The younger kids lighted up smaller fireworks, and older kids lighted up the bigger ones. We would light them up on a well constructed small box made out of bricks. An older kid accompanied the little ones to light up their fireworks.
One rule we followed to the letter, is never point or throw a fire work already lit to anyone. If you did this, your night was done, over, no more fireworks. The last and best safety tip we would implement, was/is to light one firework at a time. The younger kids were forced to follow this and the older kids enforced it.
Once we were done with the firework show, the older kids hosed down and soaked the area well, then used a sweeper to collect & dump them. That water would dissolve the powder so it would not fire later. I don’t recall any accidents in our neighborhood during our firework show. These are the tips I use today when I do the fireworks show for my kids today. If you purchased any fireworks to celebrate the new year, follow the above safety guidelines, and will run smooth.