Police and fire staff warn of fireworks risks

Oct 15 2008 by Paul Loraine, The Journal

POLICE and fire chiefs last night urged people not to stage their own firework displays because of the number of serious injuries and deaths on bonfire night.

The ‘fireworks and bonfires ruin lives in a flash’ campaign is being led by Tyne and Wear Rescue Service, Northumberland Fire and Rescue Service and Northumbria Police in partnership with councils, the ambulance service and the NHS.

Over the next fortnight, about 30 young people a day will be witnessing demonstrations of various bonfire night scenarios at SafetyWorks, Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service’s interactive safety centre in Benwell, Newcastle.

The campaign features a TV advert, a website, posters and a marketing campaign using social networking sites such as Facebook and Bebo. This year it is also using Bluetooth technology to send people text messages warning of the dangers of fireworks.

Northumbria Chief Constable Mike Craik said: “The particular objective of this campaign is to get through to young kids, the ones who are excluded from school, the ones who, in our language, are hard to reach.

“So, we are making a real effort with posters and billboards and the Bluetooth technology.

“I would like to see the complete banning of the sale of fireworks and people should go to organised displays.

“At the moment, all we can do is encourage people to go to organised displays and remind them how dangerous fireworks are, in particular the illegal imported ones.”

He also said the force would not tolerate any abuse of emergency service staff. “We will rigorously enforce the laws around that,” he said.

“We will not only make sure we protect the fire service as best we can, but if any of them are attacked, we will investigate afterwards and we will hunt down and catch the people who did it.”

Assistant chief fire officer for Tyne and Wear Dave Simpson said fireworks were getting more powerful all the time.

“We are really looking at a mini-explosive,” he said. “It’s quite strange: for the rest of the year there is no way we would let our kids play with explosives, but at this time, it happens.

“There are some people who we’ll find it more difficult to influence. We have to accept that, but if they do something wrong, the police will catch them.

“Often the most serious accidents start out as someone playing a prank or what they think is a joke.

“A man died in Washington three years ago after a firework was posted through his letterbox. We can’t let things like that happen.”

It’s quite strange: for the rest of the year there is no way we would let our kids play with explosives