How to Safely Use Sparklers

Handling sparklers safely is key to having an incident free Fourth of July celebration. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission reports that approximately 16% of all consumer fireworks injuries are caused by sparklers and most of the injuries are to young children. Sparklers accounted for 1/3 of all firework injuries to children 5 years or younger.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

1. The first step is purchase your sparklers and other fireworks from a reputable dealer. Be wary of street side vendors who may deal in substandard products.

2. Use sparklers only outdoors. Prep the area by having an open space free of any items that could easily catch fire. Remove anything that children could trip over in the dark - they'll be focused on fireworks and probably not watching where they're going.

3. Have a bucket of water available for quick and easy disposal. Sparklers can reach temperatures of 1000 degrees and must injuries are caused by burns. Placing the burned out sparklers in a bucket of water keeps them all together and helps prevent burns.

4. Teach children the basic rules of using sparklers: never run with a sparkler, don't throw them at people, hold them at arm's length, stand 6 feet away from someone else with one, never hand a lighted sparkler to someone.

Tips & Warnings

• Always wear shoes.
• Don't hold a child and a sparkler at the same time.
• Enjoy public displays of fireworks instead.

[copperhill]

on 7/4/2009 Great tips. We are going to try the sparklers with our young daughter. Your article will be quite helpful.