STANDISH, Maine — Fire investigators say a 31-year-old man has been injured in a fireworks accident in Standish.
The man suffered second-degree burns to his face after being hit by fireworks on Fair Wind Drive Wednesday evening.
Fire officials tell WGME-TV the man lit multiple mortars tied together, but didn’t get out of the way fast enough.
Authorities are urging people to be careful when using fireworks.
maine is at war
the evil empire of fireworks led by general lepage versus maine people
every day there is a list of new maine causalities
for real?
fireworks are no more dangerous then cars. It is all about the end user. If your too scared to use them and fear they are unsafe don’t use them. I have a ton of fun with them providing entertainment for family and friends.
If your post is sarcastic them disregard… I can’t tell if your serious or not because your claim is silly and outlandish.
Yes Tom, this clown “pitbull” is for real. unfortunately!
I think pitbull is skowheganresident reincarnated….
Until January 1,2012, Maine had a law that need very little enforcement. The authorities knew that folks were going to use fireworks several times a year. Mainers easily obtained them out of state and everything was cool. Neighbors , by and large knew tha Joe next door set fireworks off a few times a year and let it go. We had a law we didn’t need to enforce, now we have one that CAN’T be enforced as there are now thousands of people setting them off -some legally and safely-some illegally and unsafe. Maine did not have enough police officers before legal fireworks. Add in 24,000,000 tourists that have little or no knowlege of the rules and we now have a battle zone in some communities.
I love fireworks, but not the way Maine had chosen to operate with them. More and more cities and towns will make them illegal pushing them into smaller rural towns to drive those folks nuts. Sooner or later, and probably sooner- someone is going to die because law enforcement is out wasting their time chasing down “gunshots” when they could have been somewhere more important.
At least welfare money being used to buy fireworks is staying in Maine.
The tax revenue is projected to be as much as $400,000.00…..A face transplant for one of these “creative” fireworks users will suck up all of that …..
In the end the money ends up in China, with pieces beinng absorbed by various middlemen. If they were made in Maine a larger percentage of the profit would be kept here.
that is a non-sequitur argument. “when they could be somewhere more important”. Despite the mantra cops do not stop crimes. They do not actively combat criminals in the act of committing a crime. They are responders. They are not active participants in incidents they are recorders of the incident after the fact. gunshots in rural area’s is not uncommon in maine and I am sure very few calls actually are placed or responded to concerning gunfire.
To say we had a law we didn’t need to enforce is also does not follow. Of course we needed to enforce it. I knew many people who were fined for lighting fireworks on holidays. I also know people who buying out of state as you suggest were caught and charged with federal crimes.
I am sorry you feel it is more reasonable to have people commit felonies to participate in a centuries old tradition than to have legal means for responsible people to enjoy an activity that has been around for thousands of years.
The laws for fireworks are clearly posted at the dealers so the 24,000,000 tourists… if that number is even right have plenty of access to the knowledge needed to enjoy fireworks. Not to mention if 24 million tourists all by $100 worth of fireworks that is 2.4 billion dollars spent in maine which is something like 15 million in sales tax.
You have a very well written agument and I repect your view. Print it so you can read it back to yourself every time someone in Maine is injured by mishandling fireworks. We have way more people breaking the fireworks laws now than we did last year. The are using prohibited fireworks, using them in towns and cities where they are illegal, shooting them off after legal hours, throwing them at cars, and just about anything else. The probelm is big and will get larger simply due to access. The worst problems are near the stores.
Very true that using fireworks and driving motor vehicles have something in common. I was thinking something similar. We are urged to “Drive carefully” and we see how well that works about every day in the news. Adding fireworks to the self-destruct repertoire didn’t impress me, nor did the legislators who approved it.
So sad that some people are willing to take away others right because some are stupid. by that logic take away all vending machines because last year 12 people died because they fell on them by trying to steal stuff out of them. Or take away all apples because last year 4 people died by eating to many apply seeds. Or better yet did you know you can die eating toothpaste better take it away because some stupid fool will do it. Stop blaming the items and blame the people and the ones that raise them
well sucks to be you. at least you got your obamacare!
Fireworks in now way compares to cars. That’s just crazy! Cars are needed in our world…now if we had public transportation that would be different. Fireworks have no benefit. Tired of hearing fireworks compared to cars, it’s a stupid…alot like comparing apples to oranges.
yes they do compare because it is called freedom to choose, i choose to use fireworks and have a great time with hem, i respect my neighbors and dont shoot every day. How many people can say the same thing about people that drive many times every night i hear tires pealing out or air brakes. Cars injure so many more people then fireworks so just because you dont like anything you dont have to have does not mean we all live by your standered. By the way apples and oranges compare well because they are both fruit.
Oh we’re at war all right, against stupidity! But fortunately you’re eliminating yourselves for us.
This is nature at work. Weed out the weak ones.
I’ll bet this was one of them there “Hold my beer while I…” moments
My next door neighbor has done a professional style display for about 15 years now. He has never had a problem,nor an injury,nor a complaint.He builds a bunker, sets out the display according to color and arrangement, and a very impressive finale. The local SD has tried and tried to figure out where it comes from. Because we are out in the woods and the wild, they haven’t been
able to figure it out. Now that every tom-dick-and-harry has access, there will be problems.
The family over in Pelham, New Hampshire had never had a problem either.
So what?
Though a candidate for the Darwin principle award of the year; it does not beat out drying out fireworks with a blow torch while leaning over them.
“lit multiple mortars tied together”
let’s start blaming fireworks!
I find myself suspecting that, as is so often the case in these situations, the last words spoken before this incident occurred were, “Watch this.”
I like fireworks. Fireworks are fun when you want to see them. Making them legal in Maine gives me cause for concern. Already Portland has had to step up law enforcement efforts to maintain their decision to make fireworks illegal in their jurisdiction. We now, inevitably, have injury and it is unavoidable that we will have accidental fires related to fireworks as well. That’s the risk we take in using explosives, unregulated, for our own entertainment.
What I can’t get past is that while we are collectively and allegedly in an economic stand-still for the sake of balancing the Maine State accounting books , we are more than happy to allow the financial out-sourcing of risk and regulation from the few who choose to use fireworks to the entire population of the state. This is fiscal ignorance. The people of Portland and of Maine as a whole, should not have their already-strained tax dollars spent enforcing regulation to maintain safety and enforce regulation against a few who choose to entertain themselves in a way that may be dangerous to the general public. In other cases, such activities are subject to vice-tax so as to off-set the negative effects of the few for the safety and stability of the rest of us. Why not Fireworks, too?