Phatboy Fireworks Stand Operator Alex McKenna says fireworks sales are explosive as we approach the final long week of the summer.
The same couldn’t be said for the Canada Day Long Weekend when Fireworks venders suffered through a disappointing July long weekend due to a fire ban that made fireworks sales fizzle.
“In the last long weekend a lot of people are looking, especially with the fire ban that existed during Canada Day, a lot of people are coming in and they are picking up on what they missed out on,” said McKenna from his trailer in the Sobey’s parking lot off Algonquin avenue.
“So this week has been a very, very busy.”
McKenna says the light show is great but he insists safety is key. He has been approached by local fire departments to create a fireworks safety video to help pump out the fireworks safety message.
He believes you can never be too cautious.
“A lot of the packaging can show you what the requirements are so for this one it says it’s got a height effect of 50 meters so that you should stand back 100 meters so if it does fall over for whatever reason, you are double the distance of what it can and should not hit you,” stated McKenna.
In urban settings McKenna says open fields with very little brush in the surrounding area are a good location for shooting off fireworks. Meantime, if you are planning on taking them out to the cottage, McKenna says setting them off over the water is the best for safety and even better for your viewing pleasure.
“It’s really hard to catch water on fire,” McKenna said with a wink and a chuckle.
“But seriously it looks really beautiful over water. Obviously operate fireworks while completely sober so have your drinks after your fireworks. Shooting them over the water, you can angle a lot of your fireworks safely, just make sure the back end is reinforced and it looks magnificent and a lot of people love to do that. Or you can cheat a bit and use the tongue off the wheel barrel and it’s angled for you.”
And never look down the barrel of a lit firework.
“So if the fuse for whatever reason burns out don’t stare into the tubes it is a terrible idea,” McKenna said.
“Leave it alone for 30 minutes. If you have a hose around, which I strongly recommend, always have a method to extinguish your fireworks.”
Reality is you can get injured if you don’t follow the safety protocols on the label.
“I love all my customers, I want them to come back to me, I don’t want them to come back to me with missing fingers,” said McKenna.
