How to Set Off Fireworks at Home

There are few finer ways to celebrate a summer night than lighting off some fireworks. You can buy some kind of fireworks in almost every state, and hosting a fireworks display at your home can be the perfect way to celebrate a holiday or just bring everyone together.

But fireworks can be dangerous, and should be handled with caution. You need to have plenty of space to light off fireworks, and you need to wear the right clothes and safety gear if you’re the person actually lighting off the fireworks. Take care when lighting fireworks – keep them away from your kids, and have some water handy to douse any flames that erupt or neutralize a firework that has fallen over. Follow these steps to keep everyone safe at the show.

Take Up Space

You need a lot of space to light off fireworks, especially aerial ones. If you’re going to light off aerial fireworks, you need a large area free of trees, buildings and other structures, and overhead wires. Figure out how high your highest aerial pyrotechnic will fly, and prepare to place your family and friends 1.5 times that distance behind the firing line. If you’re lighting off cones and fountains, keep everyone at least 15 feet back.

Dress for the Occasion

If you’re actually lighting off the fireworks yourself, you should have appropriate safety clothing and gear. Wear boots or sneakers, safety goggles and a hat. Choose long sleeves and jeans. Wear natural fibers – they’ll burn instead of melting into your skin, so you’ll be better off if some sparks fly at you.

Light Fireworks Carefully

If you’re lighting fireworks at a gathering, it’s always safest to have only one person designated to light fireworks. Since lighting the firework is the most dangerous time, it makes sense to minimize the risk to just one person – especially if alcohol is being served.

Always use a long barbecue lighter to light fireworks. It allows you to keep some distance from the explosive and makes it less likely you’ll hover above the firework, putting your face at risk. Keep your distance from the firework when lighting the fuse, and get away from it as soon as the fuse is lit. Watch the display from a distance with everyone else. Don’t assume that a firework isn’t going to go off because the fuse went out, or because nothing happened right away.

You should also make sure that fireworks are secure prior to launch. If you’re lighting off aerial fireworks like mortars, roman candles, and bottle rockets, make sure you’re using a mortar rack or a bottle to anchor the firework to the ground. You attach your fireworks to a length of wood in the order you want to fire them in, just by screwing through the plate on the bottom. At the very least, you should make sure fireworks rest on a firm, flat surface, like concrete or asphalt, or even on a piece of plywood if that’s all you have available. Never set fireworks on uneven, bumpy surfaces or on grass to light them.

Stay Hydrated

Fireworks have the potential to burn things down, so make sure you have access to water the entire time you’re lighting them off. Get the garden hose ready, full up some buckets, or both. You may need to douse a firework that falls over, for example, and you’ll definitely need to wet down your spent fireworks to make sure they’re not still hot before you pick them up. To further prevent mishaps, clear your firing area of debris that could light on fire if something goes wrong, like dead leaves and dried grass.

Pay Attention to the Weather

You don’t need perfectly dry conditions to light off fireworks. You can protect fireworks from the rain by wrapping them in tinfoil and you don’t even need to remove it before you light the fuse. But if it’s windy, you may want to postpone the performance. Wind can blow hot debris far afield of your fallout zone, and could threaten nearby structures or trees.

Supervise Your Kids

Kids should not be handling fireworks, not even sparklers. Only one person should be handling all the fireworks, anyway. Keep all fireworks away from young children and teach your children how to use fireworks responsibly, so that when they’re old enough, they can set off fireworks safely, too.

Lighting off fireworks at home is so much fun, but it’s fun that can turn bad if something goes wrong. Make sure you know what you’re doing when it comes to home fireworks, so everyone can stay safe and have a good time.