Two men were hurt, one badly, after a close encounter with fireworks over the weekend.
The fireworks accident happened Saturday night in Billings Township in southwestern Gladwin County.
Investigators say a man badly hurt himself with a firework when he set it off.
The explosion blew off his hand.
Fire crews say the firework then burned another man standing nearby.
Both are recovering, but the Gladwin Urban-Rural Fire Department says it’s a costly reminder.
"I think the most important thing is you’re responsible for what happens to whatever you shoot in the air where it lands, both for the fact that there are pieces left over, sticks, wires plus they could be hot and they could start a fire," says David Sprang, fire prevention officer at the Gladwin Fire Department. "If that could be traced back to the shooter, the shooter is liable for a fire that’s caused by fireworks to go up and come down somewhere else, both private land or state land."
Fire crews also remind you to always clear the area of anything flammable before using fireworks.
"Commercial fireworks distributors and shooters have to have an area cleared around where they shoot off fireworks," Sprang says. "That’s important to do even if you are doing them in your backyard."
"Some of those are rather dangerous, anyway, because you never know if they are going to work correctly or not, so follow the directions, supervision for kids under 12, make sure there is water there," Sprang says. "Most of it is common sense, to be kind to your neighbor when you are shooting off fireworks."
Another reminder, Sprang says, lies not with fireworks.
Recently, his department has seen an increase of sky lanterns being used.
Sprang says more people are using them this holiday weekend.
"Several municipalities have started to outlaw them," Sprang says. "You light them, they go up in the air. The theory is they are supposed to burn up in the air. I would say less than 50-percent of them actually work the way they are supposed to. You just sent a flaming ball of paper into the sky and it is going to land on somebody else’s land."
By law, he says fireworks can only be used on your own property.
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