Fire Officials Stress Fireworks Safety For Holiday Weekend

Fire officials all over Lake of the Ozarks are getting ready for a busy Independence Day weekend, with lots of people and lots of fireworks.

But there’s a common theme going around about mixing fireworks and alcohol.

“Have someone who’s not been drinking to manage the fireworks, because 9 times out of 10….if you take someone mixing vodka or rum with high velocity fireworks, it usually doesn’t turn out well” says Deputy Fire Chief John Scheper with the Gravois Fire Protection District.

He tells KRMS News what he thinks is the most dangerous kind of fireworks, and it’s one you might not be expecting “Sparklers burn at like 11 hundred degrees…it’s basically like an arc-welder. We actually see more eye and finger injuries, arm injuries and burns…all by sparklers, more than anything else…and yet you see 3-year-old’s dancing around with sparklers.”

Scheper says its best to go see a professional fireworks display for the 4^th of July and there are numerous events planned for the Lake Area this weekend.