CPSC Demonstrates Fireworks Hazards, Urges Consumers to Celebrate Legally and Safely on Independence Day
Press Release # 03-149
Transcript
TEXT: Demonstrations
TEXT: Baby Doll with Sparklers (legal in some states)
(View of two dolls propped up on doll stands with sparkler between them. Man approaches with lighter to ignite sparkler).
Narrator: We'll show how sparklers, which are legal and popular in many communitites, can ignite clothing and cause burns. Remember, small children should not play with sparklers. They can burn at temperatures of up to two thousand degrees, and as I said, that's enough to cause third degree burns.
(View of doll with sparkler turning and igniting clothing of second doll)
TEXT: Mannequin with bottle rockets (legal in some states)
(View of mannequin in field, man approaches, holding lighter to pocket of mannequin where bottle rocket is located. The man leaves the scene and the mannequin burns and explosions are heard).
Narrator: There is a potential for serious burns and disfigurement when bottle rockets are carried in clothing or used without following instructions. So if anybody wondered why you sholdn't have a bottle rocket in your pants, that's a good example right there.
TEXT: Mannequin with M-80 in hand (illegal)
(View of mannequin in field with M-80 in hand)
Narrator: Despite M-80s in the hand of the mannequin there on the left in the back, the one standing up. Every year children and adults lose fingers or hands or worse when this kind of illegal firework explodes before they release it.
(View of M-80 exploding in the hand of the mannequin).
TEXT: Watermellon with M-1000 (illegal)
(View of watermellon in a field. Man approaches and lights the explosive inside of the watermellon)
Narrator: We put an M-1000 beneath a watermellon. M-1000s are also illegal, they're about ten times the power of that M-80 we just set off, so now we'll watch the M-1000.
(View of watermellon exploding)
TEXT: Mannequin in house M-1000 (illegal)
(View of mannequin sitting by a table next to a wall made to look like a home setting. Man approaches and lights the M-1000. Explosion occurs, knocking over scenery and doll and smoking)
END.