Amn't’s blog

A few news items

nobody@vox.com(Amn't) — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 22:37:27 -0700

Four Juveniles Cited For Fireworks Incident At School

SACRAMENTO - School surveillance cameras and an anonymous tipster are believed to have played an integral role in helping authorities track down four juveniles blamed for starting a small fire using fireworks at a local elementary school.
Sacramento Fire Department officials say they've identified and cited four juveniles for an incident at John Bidwell Elementary School in which a small area carpet was damaged by fireworks set off on school property.

Glad to see that these stupid kids were caught after such egregious misuse of fireworks... (Link)

Neighbor Lights Illegal Firework After Dispute

SAGINAW TOWNSHIP, Mich. -- A Michigan State Bomb Squad unit was called to a Saginaw Township apartment early Tuesday to investigate suspicions activity after one of its resident lit an illegal firework and threatened to blow up the complex.
Police said the 41-year-old man lit a three-inch mortar on his porch in retaliation after a neighbor asked him to turn down his music.

"I know! I'll light one of my illegal fireworks to annoy an already pissed off neighbor!" This image seems appropriate. (Link)

On a different note...

Chase won't pay for Seattle's Lake Union fireworks next year

Seattle could be without a Fourth of July fireworks show next year if no one steps forward to sponsor it, the show's organizer said Thursday.

JPMorgan Chase & Co., which acquired Washington Mutual last fall, paid for the bulk of last weekend's show but said it won't commit to sponsoring the event again.

Will my city have a fireworks show next year? This is the only big show in the city, so it'll be interesting to see what happens. I'm sure they'll manage to get some sponsors, but it seems that $500,000 is unlikely, so we'll be seeing a smaller show. I watched the video of this past 4th the other day, but that would be a whole different post... (Link)

Friday is the Covington show with Wolverine, look for pics and video Sunday night or Monday, I'll be gone hiking most of the weekend.

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Lamest. Fireworks. Injury. EVAR.

nobody@vox.com(Amn't) — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 16:50:19 -0700

Smokedumbass

Epic fail from some stupid local news people... They managed to hurt themselves with a smoke bomb shaped like a rocket... At first I thought it was a real rocket and would explode on the ground given how hard she stuck it in the ground, but it is an OH legal item, meaning it sucks!

Video here

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Quality fearmongering, plus stupid criminals

nobody@vox.com(Amn't) — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 17:43:15 -0700

Illegalstashdeath

Half a ton of illegal fireworks seized from Boyle Heights home

Members of the San Gabriel Valley Arson Explosives Task Force have seized more than half a ton of illegal fireworks from a residential neighborhood in Boyle Heights, averting a potentially explosive and deadly situation, authorities said.
“Given the amount of fireworks in the residence, and the densely populated area ... we could have had a detonation of all that material, and it would have destroyed a good portion of the block, or several houses,” said Alhambra Fire Department Assistant Chief John Kabala.
The investigation originated after arson investigators from the Alhambra Fire Department found dangerous fireworks and unlawful explosives being advertised for sale on Craigslist, Kabala said. The department conducts regular checks of the free classified advertising site, Kabala said.

Full story here.

Now selling fireworks that are illegal in California (a "safe and sane" state) is stupid, and advertising them on craigslist is even stupider. But that doesn't give fire officials permission to lie and exaggerate. Later in the article they compare it to a drug bust, which is accurate in the level of fearmongering and BS... I posted a comment in the article saying that the fireworks were 1.4G consumer fireworks, by definition incapable of mass explosion, but it seems to have been deleted. I'll post it again and see what happens.

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News bits

nobody@vox.com(Amn't) — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 22:22:03 -0700

Standcut

Behold my 1337 Photoshop skillz!

Police: Thief Cuts Hole In Stand, Steals Fireworks

UNION, S.C. -- A Union County fireworks stand owner said that someone cut a hole in the bottom of the business and stole items from the business.
...
Crocker told Union Police that sometime after Feb. 1, someone entered the storage unit that houses Crocker's business and removed an undetermined amount of fireworks.

Stealing fireworks? This evil crime must not go unpunished! (link)

Firefighters plan fireworks show

The Lake Havasu Professional Firefighters Association is looking to take the display to the next level with the city’s first Lake Havasu Freedom Festival and Fireworks Show, but donations are going to be needed.

But I thought all firefighters knew that fireworks were evil! Good news for Lake Havasu, as long as they can get the money together. (link)

Proposed fireworks surcharge enflames wholesalers

HONOLULU (AP) — The state's wholesalers of legal fireworks are balking at a proposed 50 percent surcharge that is aimed at cutting sales and easing health and safety concerns on the Fourth of July and New Year's

Glad I don't live in Hawaii.... (link)

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Stupid people and minor goings-on

nobody@vox.com(Amn't) — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 16:06:53 -0700

Two arrested after fireworks set off indoors

Candlecops

WENATCHEE — Police blocked off the streets surrounding a Cleveland Avenue home after the sound of a firework set off indoors was mistaken for gunfire. Two people, including an 18-year-old man, were arrested as a result.

...

An 18-year-old Wenatchee man was booked into the Chelan County Regional Justice Center on suspicion of illegal possession of fireworks, possession of marijuana with intent to sell, possession of drug paraphernalia, obstruction and hit-and-run of an unattended vehicle.

A juvenile girl was booked into the Chelan County Juvenile Detention Center on suspicion of obstructing law enforcement officers after coming out of the home and not telling police someone was still inside.

Sounds like the police got a little too excited, but the stupid people here are clearly the ones in the house... (link to story)

Blog comments - I almost never got comments on this blog (no surprise, not too many people read it, and even fewer have accounts), but most of them recently have been spam. I delete them as soon as I see them, but it is still annoying. Now only people set as friends can post comments, and I've never even done the friends thing before, so I'm not expecting a lot of comments...

My Renn Fayre fireworks show is in less than a month and everything is on track. The show is done, product is pulled and cued, and permits are almost finalized. I should be getting a video with my camera, plus a high quality video that I will post about when I get it...

Fireworks season is just getting started, so time to get excited! Next weekend I'll hopefully be helping shoot a demo up at Muckleshoot, so look for a post on that soon.

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Posterboy for Stupid

nobody@vox.com(Amn't) — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 22:34:37 -0700

Posterboy

Today's news story comes from Arizona, where all consumer fireworks are currently banned...

Fire officials battle bill that would OK consumer fireworks (link)

Ok, sounds like a typical news story on a proposal to allow consumer fireworks in a state...

After the series of explosions and after he finally forced his way out of the car, Matt Crosbie looked down and saw the skin peeling from his arms.
Flashes of smoke, flames and burned flesh followed just moments after Crosbie tried to launch mortar-like fireworks out the window of a moving car days before his high school graduation. One of the explosives he fired from a cardboard tube bounced back into the vehicle, igniting more fireworks and leaving the car engulfed in fire.
...
Crosbie, who recently joined firefighters recently to speak out against the bill, said he was inspired to serve as a burn-victim advocate after he rehabbed.
"I've had 30 surgeries, plenty of skin grafts," said Crosbie, now 23. "I guess you could say I'm scarred for life because of this."

Um...what? It is quite expected to have fire officials argue about this and a debate about legalizing consumer fireworks is totally appropriate, especially in a dry state like Arizona. But why would anyone (Crosbie included) think it was a good idea to trot Crosbie out to argue against it? What happened to him was unfortunate and clearly very painful, but it was his own damn fault and has no bearing on the issue. Unless his argument is "I am living proof that we are too stupid to use fireworks according to directions," then he should stay away from this debate.

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Chinese New Year [Updated]

nobody@vox.com(Amn't) — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 15:55:08 -0800

Yeah, it was more than a week ago, but I just found a couple of really cool pictures here. Only a couple are of fireworks, but the whole set is great, the Big Picture series always has great stuff.

Chinesenewyearox

I saw a few news stories in the last couple weeks about the Chinese New Year and how they make special exceptions for fireworks use in cities, but nothing that was enough for a post at the time. You can find them if you look around, and I'm sure there are plenty of cool videos on youtube...

UPDATE: Chinese TV station sorry for accidentally burning down brand-new luxury hotel

A Chinese television station has apologised after unauthorised fireworks it was using accidentally set fire to a brand new 44-storey luxury hotel in downtown Beijing - engulfing it in flames.
The Mandarin Oriental hotel, still under construction, caught fire as the skies above the Chinese capital were filled with fireworks - part of celebrations of the lantern festival that follows the Lunar New Year.

Oops.

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Fireworks on FAIL Blog

nobody@vox.com(Amn't) — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 12:48:18 -0800

Not news to pyros, but still a bit funny and ironic to see patriotic-themed fireworks coming from China. A case of fireworks made FAIL Blog today (click here if you aren't hip to internet memes).

Fail-owned-freedom-fail

In other news, it was nice to see a positive article on fireworks for once, thanks to Winter Blast.

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Poor planning

nobody@vox.com(Amn't) — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 15:00:37 -0800

Dumbwes

Police: Latrobe Teen Put M-80 Between Thighs To Muffle Explosion

LATROBE, Pa. -- Police said a Latrobe teenager who lost his right hand and leg in an explosion has acknowledged playing with a powerful firework, and was not targeted or threatened as he first told police.
Wesley Kimmick, 17, of Latrobe, remains hospitalized at UPMC Presbyterian in Pittsburgh after a Jan. 10 explosion at his grandmother's home.
Latrobe police said the teenager was playing with a large firecracker like an M-80 in his grandmother's house."There was a quarter stick of dynamite in the house where he was staying, and he got a hold of it and it blew him up basically," said his mother, Heather Adams.
The boy kept lighting and extinguishing the fuse and when it wouldn't go out, police said he put the firework between his thighs and covered it with his right hand in hopes of muffling the explosion.
Police said the boy first told them the explosive blew up in a backpack after he was the target of threats from unknown people.

Other than the usual "M-80 is not a 1/4 stick of dynamite" comment, I don't think anything else can be said about this story... (link)

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Assorted news roundup

nobody@vox.com(Amn't) — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 11:51:30 -0800

Newsroundup

I'm a bit behind on the news, and a bit slow in posting, so here is a bunch of stuff all at once!

'Flaming balls' attacker charged in crackdown on fireworks abuse

A 24-year-old Sydney man has been charged by police after he launched fireworks at a police car at Auburn in Sydney's west overnight.
Police say the man used a 75-centimetre long firework to fire "flaming balls" at the car as it was patrolling the suburb.

It sounds like some dumbass just shot a roman candle at a cop (which is stupid and he should certainly be charged), but this sensationalist headline just cracks me up...

Hawaii has consumer fireworks law that limit people to firecrackers and fountains, so of course people want better stuff. Being an island, it takes a bit more work to bring things in than just driving across a state line like other parts of the US. As a result, "Passengers leaving airports in Hawaii are responsible for a disproportionally high percentage of fireworks that are found illegally stowed in checked and carry-on baggage in the Western-Pacific Region, the FAA said." As a result, black market prices for aerials are crazy, where "An undercover officer purchased 25 pounds of aerials for $1,400" from a legal fireworks seller that illegally smuggled in aerial fireworks. It seems crazy that a legal operation would do something that stupid, but with the markups they get, it isn't a surprise. Even so, aerial use on the islands is widespread and the police admit they can't do much about it.

Vegas made some changes to their New Years show this year, moving the firing positions from the roofs to the ground. They promised a great show, but the reviews were mostly negative because of reduced visibility. I haven't seen any video so I don't know how it looked, but I'm sure it can't compare to the roof firing (which was canceled because a welder started a roof fire last year).

Far worse than a lame show, there were some tragic incidents as well. 59 people died in Thailand when fireworks were illegally used inside a packed club. Somebody in Florida got himself killed with fireworks, although exactly what happened isn't clear. They talk about "professional grade mortar-type fireworks" then say they were legal to buy, it it could have just been a 1.4G shell. As with most news reports, they don't know what they are talking about, so who knows what really happened? Another man learned the hard way that sparkler bombs can be dangerous.

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