What is the New Year without fireworks? Today, celebrations are not complete without festive lights. At the same time, it is worth remembering that fireworks are created on the same principle as a live projectile. – except that the power is less. So you need to follow the safety rules.
According to the Ministry of Emergency Situations, almost 1 million Russians are hospitalized every year with injuries from firecrackers. Half of them – on New Year’s Eve. How informs site Explain.rf, the reason for this is often defective fireworks or a violation of the instructions when handling fireworks.
How to buy fireworks
You should buy fireworks only in specialized stores or in departments of shopping centers. With the right sale, only the seller can take the goods in hand, and the visitor is allowed to look at the samples in the window and read the labels. It is on them that you should pay special attention when choosing New Year’s fireworks.
Experts recommend paying special attention to three points: the instruction is in Russian, the expiration date is indicated on the package, the seller has a certificate for the product. A certificate with a unique number must contain the following information:
- about the certification body – where the fireworks of this series were tested;
- about the applicant – the company that purchased the fireworks from the manufacturer;
- about the manufacturer – the name of the manufacturer.
- about products – an accurate description of the fireworks. For example, “batteries of fireworks” indicating the number of pieces in the package, articles, contract and lot numbers;
- a note that the fireworks comply with the requirements of the technical regulations of the Customs Union “On the safety of pyrotechnic products”.
You should contact another store if the product is accompanied by instructions without translation, if the packaging is damaged, the expiration date has expired, or the certificate is missing. You can not buy fireworks in the market, from a car or from a stall. Savings can have serious consequences. The seller of fireworks must have a license from the Ministry of Industry and Trade.
It is worth buying fireworks only from certified sellers, since counterfeit goods are likely to be expired or stored with violations. It may either not work, or burst unexpectedly.
Incendiary options
The degree of entertainment of a salute for a private person is limited to the first three hazard classes (Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 1052 “On approval of fire safety requirements for the distribution and use of pyrotechnic products”). Among the fires of the first class are firecrackers and sparklers with a range of up to 0.5 meters. Small fountains and ground-based fireworks with a “cold” fire, the charges of which scatter to the sides up to 5 meters, are classified as the second class. Pyrotechnics of the first and second classes can be used indoors.
Please read the instructions carefully before opening the package. For example, “cold” fire “becomes hot if fireworks are placed next to flammable curtains or household appliances. There must be a free space of at least 5 meters around the fireworks.
Holiday lights of the third hazard class are allowed to run only in open space. Their range is about 20 meters.
Pyrotechnics from the inside
The simplest single salute is a tube with a stand-plug. The width of the tube determines the caliber. Inside is a festival ball that explodes in the air. There is also a charge and a wick.
The battery of multi-colored fireworks consists of several single charges-tubes. The distance from the battery, in which the wick is lit, holding it on outstretched arms, to the audience should be at least 20 meters.
No less popular and dangerous fireworks is the so-called Roman candle. At the bottom of her body is a stabilizer (sometimes the body itself). The stabilizer allows the lights to fly in a predictable path. The candle can only be used when the stabilizer is not damaged. Before starting, the Roman candle should be firmly fixed – half buried in the ground or snow. This is stated in the instructions. These rules should not be ignored.
low-flying rocket
Fireworks with a caliber of less than 3 inches are available to the mass user – such a salute is visible from different sides. The most modest, 0.8-inch caliber, shoots to a height of about 20 meters, while the lights in the sky scatter about 10 meters. The maximum possible caliber for amateurs is 2.5 inches (almost 6 cm), it flies up to a distance of about 55 meters, to the sides – 40–50 meters. When choosing a site, it is important to consider that the range of fireworks may be greater.
How reminds Roskachestvo, requirements for the use of pyrotechnics are contained in Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 1479 “On approval of the Rules for the fire regime in the Russian Federation”. For example, they state:
- spectators should be on the side of the wind;
- pyrotechnics must not be left unattended, on the sites where they are launched, fire and smoking must not be made;
- you can not use pyrotechnics indoors (excluding stage and other professional options);
- it is forbidden to launch fireworks on roofs, balconies, loggias and protruding parts of building facades.
You can not arrange fireworks under the windows of residential buildings, launch them from the balcony. Every year, the Ministry of Emergency Situations deals with dozens of such cases, and the police classify such launches as petty hooliganism, for which a fine of 3 thousand rubles threatens. So, on New Year’s Eve 2022 in Vyborg, a firecracker flew through the window right onto the festive table, in Naberezhnye Chelny the fireworks smashed the balcony, and in Krasnoyarsk an apartment burned down from a festive rocket.
If the weather does not allow for complete safety, it is better to postpone the fireworks launch to another day. If the manufacturer has set age restrictions on the use of products, they must be observed.
