Public Service Announcement About Fireworks

[PampChefJoy]

Make sure they are ABSOLUTELY extinguished before leaving them and going to bed. These "safe and sane" fireworks, just a small package with about 5-6 fountains, were dunked in water and left in a container on the side of our house, behind the fence. Over 2 hours after that (after my husband walked by it a couple times and noticed nothing out of the ordinary), the container caught fire, lit up the fence and started to travel up the side of garage wall. My husband and I were still awake, smelled the smoke, and he went out to check it out - grabbed the garden hose and managed to put out the flames. The preliminary estimate is over $5000 and that does not include the further damage we found when we pulled off some more of the stucco - so the claims adjuster is coming back tomorrow. I thank God that we were still awake and that it hadn't spread too quickly. We dodged a huge bullet there. Two houses down the street were not so lucky - the same thing happened to them. They put their fireworks in the garbage and did not drown them enough. It lit up between two houses and took them both out with major damage.

 

[cindylpal]

You are very blessed and lucky...friends across the street lost there home this way a few years back!

 

[lesliec]

Wow. Glad you all are alright.

 

[BlueMoon]

Oh, Joy, thank goodness you are are okay. I am so sorry for your neighbors, too. I hope no one was hurt? Fire is so tricky and so scary!Does anyone remember the big fire in Oakland, CA back in 1991? It actually made the cover of time magazine. 3500-4000 homes were destroyed, and many people were killed or injured. The fire lasted 3 days. I mention it because it started when a fire that even the fire department thought was completely out flared up.So, Joy, if even the professionals can be wrong about something like that, rest in the knowledge that you did everything right and the relief that you and your husband were able to detect it and stop it when it was still manageable.

 

[pampchefsarah]

Joy, I'm so grateful you and your family are ok! How very scary. Sending up prayers for your neighbors as well, and that peace remains between them.

 

[nikked]

WOW! Glad you and yours are okay...thanks for the real life lesson!

 

[raebates]

I'm so glad you're okay. We leave the fireworks to the professionals.

 

[ChefLoriG]

wow, the most we do nowadays are sparklers. Not worth the risk. Glad you are ok

 

[Sheila]

So glad that you guys were not injured and that the property damage was limited to your house and as minor as it was. Like you said, it could have been worse, much worse!I can't even begin to tell you how many 911 calls we received every year at this season. They would usually start 2-3 days before & last for 2-3 days after. Even with a ban on them in the county (you were not even allowed to drive through the county with them in your car to go somewhere else), we still had people sneak them in and start fires by shooting them off in housing & letting them land on houses. At least you guys were being responsible when you extinguished them and stored them for the night, but I'm still shocked that there are cities out there who don't have a city ordinance against them. Even when the user is being responsible accidents do happen. Then you have the imbeciles who actually shoot off bottle rockets in housing areas, or use the black cat firecrackers on dry grass, etc. - who really ruin the fun for the responsible people. Our county went to city run fireworks shows to try & alleviate mishaps. I highly recommend those! The odds are more in your favor that you won't start a fire and/or get injured by using them wrong.

 

[BethCooks4U]

So sorry to hear this happened and I'm glad you are all okay. Are fireworks legal where you are? I doubt insurance would cover if they weren't - I know there are a lot of places that have signs all over the place that they're illegal and then a stand to buy them in the next block.

 

[Intrepid_Chef]

I came home yesterday to notice an extinguished firework (bigger than a firecracker, smaller than a "mortar" laying on the ground in my driveway, VERY near my front lawn. If it had gone a few feet the other way, it would have hit my house. And yes, they are illegal in these parts, but that doesn't stop the ignorant hilljacks from setting 'em off. Irony is that you can buy them as long as you promise to set 'em off out of state. Yeah, right ...

 

[pampered1224]

I am happy to hear all is OK too. That must have been a big shock! I know I would never have thought that they could come back to life hours later. Prayers for a claim that goes through. We had a neighbor use what our city calls illegal fireworks, everything including sparklers are illegal in our city, and they were denied their claim based on the law. The house was a loss and they ended up losing everything because of it. They apparently had a stash of fire works in the garage. Apparently one of the kids decided to try one and ended up lighting up the entire stash when he accidentally flipped the match he used to light the one to close the others. Anyway, never under estimate the reasoning behind the laws. I am just glad too that you are safe.

 

[StacieB]

Glad it didn't do more damage and you were able to catch it. How scary!

 

[PampChefJoy]

These are the "safe and sane" legal fireworks that are allowed in our county. Ours was a small box, about 5 or 6 fountains, a handful of sparklers, some small bloom flowers... nothing major. I wouldn't be surprised if they ban them - we had way too many accidents this year. The problem is that they generate way more heat than you would think, even when they're no longer glowing.

 

[PampChefJoy]

Oh and our insurance company (Liberty Mutual) rocks. The adjuster came out, assessed it and wrote a check on the spot. It turns out there is some more structural damage underneath the stucco, so they will be sending a 2nd check. We already have a contractor working on it so it should be fairly painless to get things repaired.

 

[esavvymom]

Sparklers burn at over 2000 degrees. And people let kids use them! I was always too scared to have those things in my hand.
We've had a few close calls with the idiots shooting the illegal fireworks in our areas (anything that leaves the ground in my state is illegal...I'm sure a few others are, but at least that much I know.) I've been in a house where they landed on the roof (from a street away)- thankfully in the winter time, so everything was VERY cold (New years). A landlord had a house burn down because of extinguished rockets landing on the roof.It used to be so bad in one neighborhood, we wouldn't leave our home on the 4th because we were so afraid someone would burn our house down while we were gone and didn't see it. Laws don't stop the people from still using them- and usually the folks who SHOULDN'T be using them in the first place are hte ones breaking the laws!Glad you caught it Joy!

 

[Chef Kearns]

I'm so glad you guys are safe! Take care and Thank the Lord!