Fireworks blamed for man losing (M-1000) his hand, Omaha house fire

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.omaha.com/news/metro/fireworks-blamed-for-man-losing-his-hand-omaha-house-fire/article_004dce90-b262-521b-b212-201e613db017.html


MARK DAVIS/THE WORLD-HERALD
Workers from Carlson Restoration work to seal a house at 16219 Riggs St. Saturday after a fire that was thought to have been caused by fireworks.


POSTED: SATURDAY, JULY 5, 2014 1:00 AM
By Paige Yowell 
and Amanda Brandt / World-Herald staff writers

A Fourth of July partygoer lost his right hand, and a southwest Omaha home was nearly destroyed in accidents involving fireworks Friday night and Saturday morning.

Jared Spencer, 31, was transported to the Nebraska Medical Center in critical condition before 10:30 p.m. Friday. Rescue personnel located an M-1000 fireworks device in Spencer’s pocket, and it’s believed a similar device caused the trauma to his hand, said Douglas County Sheriff’s Capt. Eric Sellers.

Spencer had been using illegal fireworks, Sellers said.

Nobody was injured in a one-story house fire at 16219 Riggs St. that was thought to have been caused by fireworks early Saturday morning.

FULL story at link.

[NYC_SKP]

1. K/R. Every year I fear for my pets and for my property re fireworks.

I've found spent rockets in my yard, and I paid people for two days work to collect all loose leaves and debris earlier this week (I'm recovering from brain surgery and am advised not to lift more than 10 pounds).

I support a total ban on personal incendiaries, especially loud and rocket propelled ones that disturb the peace and endanger the neighborhood.

When I was a kid we had sparklers and snakes, not much more, and we loved it.

Let professionals do the fireworks withing a fixed time period one evening, make illegal all the rest, please!

.

[Union Scribe]

2. +1

Our dumbass GOP state government decided a few years ago that bans on dangerous fireworks violated 'Murikan freedum or some such, so ever since every summer is filled with the sounds of large explosions and, not infrequently, sirens thereafter.

[NYC_SKP]

4. Our sheriffs and fire departments don't respond at all unless there is an active uncontrolled fire.

And it goes on for days, starting a week before and lasting several days after the actual holiday.

New Years, too.

[csziggy]

3. Even when they are illegal the laws are not enforced

Years ago I saw an interview with the State Fire Marshall for Florida about fireworks. Then (and maybe still now I haven't kept up with the laws) anything that exploded or left the ground was illegal for personal use. As the Fire Marshall put it, that left sparklers as the only truly legal firework for Florida.

Then as now there are large tents set up on the side of the roads selling all those fireworks that he described as illegal. Then as now every year the morons that live around my farm set off illegal fireworks, ignoring red flag warnings, fire bans or any precautionary warnings.

If they shoot the fireworks over my farm - which they have done in the past - I call the sheriff's department and report them. They no longer do that. Either they are older and wiser (i seriously doubt this as they are morons) or they have piled up enough complaints from neighbors over noise and nuisance violations they are being charged fines and penalties.

[enlightenment]

5. You and me both.

It is absolutely absurd that people are blithely allowed to use these things.

Last night, our local PD informed us that "it is legal" to shoot off fireworks until midnight - despite the fact that the rockets were being blasted into the air (illegal) from the street and sidewalks (illegal). If they aren't willing to enforce the law, what's to stop the idiots from burning down someone's house? Nothing.

[Tetris_Iguana]

6. I, for one, support the use of fireworks to further natural selection.

He who sticks his body near an explosive device doesn't get to have kids.

It works quite nicely. 👍

I am also very pleased at the ability of my firework launching neighbors to defy the total prohibition in my state.

One could say there's nothing more American than celebrating Independence Day with some good ol' fashioned rebellion.

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[MissB]

7. We can't have anything that can go higher than 6 feet off the ground.

But just over the river, in Washington, one can buy the ones that do leave the ground.

So folks go over and buy a bunch and bring them back. Dh and I drove near my brother's house last night and we could only get as close as about a half mile away as there were plenty of other folks looking for parking in his neighborhood. About two blocks from where we parked, we passed a couple of women lighting off some sort of hand held mortar launcher. They were standing in the middle of the narrow street with cars packed on both sides, lighting off things that flew. I guess maybe they thought those would travel in a straight line? Freaking morons. I was glad we were parked two blocks away.

Anyway, we had an awesome view from my brother's house of the fireworks show. The real shows are pretty darned cool, and there is no way that anything I could buy - legal or not- is going to be as nice as the ones that are lit on the barge on the river.

I do feel sorry for the idiot that lost his hand. That's a high price to pay for stupidity.