Eye agony of firework victim, 11
A south Wales boy has suffered permanent eye damage from a firework...Luke spent five days in hospital after he was injured while walking home from the park with his brother.
He said: "There were big boys older than us, about 16, outside the gate and you could see them going in their pockets.
Widow, 81, flees firework attack
An elderly woman had a narrow escape from her burning home after a lighted firework was pushed through the letterbox in her front door. She was confronted by a wall of flames across her hallway, but managed to escape through the back door.
Gang tied fireworks to dog's body
Thugs blew up a Yorkshire terrier by tying fireworks to its body and then took pictures of the aftermath on their mobile phones, the dog's owner said...their pet, Emmie, had bolted because of firework noise.The next morning Mr Barrington was told the badly mutilated body of a small dog had been found in a nearby dustbin.
Stable firework arson kills horse
Call to curb bomb-like fireworks
Shops in a London borough have been asked not to sell fireworks over fears the bangs could cause distress in the wake of the July bomb attacks.
Letters from Westminster Council were sent to 20 shopkeepers saying the sound of explosions could cause concern to Londoners left nervous by the bombings.
Fireman hit in face in bonfire brick attack
Bonfire night 2005: A night of fun?
A BONFIRE night of injury, misery, violence and mayhem across Greater Manchester is revealed today. This weekend firefighters came under an unprecedented number of terrifying attacks, with one man threatening to shoot crew members. A young father suffered horrendous injuries when a firework he lit blew up. Scores of people were injured and property damaged in related incidents...A man in Radcliffe was seriously injured after a firework exploded as he tried to light it. He could lose an eye... One woman in Hindley was taken to hospital after being hit on the head by a rocket...A man in his 30s also required medical attention after being hit by fireworks in Ashton under Lyne...
A man in sheltered accommodation (in) Gorton, had a lucky escape after a firework was fired through his kitchen window as he watched TV.
Fire crews attacked by yobs as emergency calls flood in
Firefighters in Yorkshire were pelted with bricks, bottles, and fireworks by Guy Fawkes Night hooligans as crews all over the region tried to deal with hundreds of calls to illegal bonfires. Six customers at the Brown Hare pub in Harehills Lane, Leeds, were injured when a man threw a commercial firework into the bar at 6.50pm on Saturday. Police said the firework produced more than 150 separate explosions, causing extensive damage but no serious injuries...
...In Beverley, a firework was pushed through the letter box of a house and exploded in the box, causing damage. North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service dealt with 42 bonfire-related incidents, including damage to two house roofs. The worst was at Harwood Dale, west of Scarborough,when a fire was discovered in the roof of a detached cottage. Firefighters were unable to prevent damage to external and internal timbers and there was also some damage to a bathroom. The fire is believed to have been caused by a rocket. Earlier, they were called to Northcliffe Avenue in Scarborough where a firework had become wedged in the eaves of a house causing smoke damage.
Seven children were among those ferried to hospital by a fleet of ambulances. Most of the injuries were minor but a boy aged 10 had to be transferred to a specialist burns unit. His condition yesterday was said to be serious but stable......Meanwhile, in Benfleet, Essex, a woman aged 55 suffered injuries to her chest and abdomen when a firework penetrated her clothing. In Colchester, a 40-year-old man received burns to both eyes after a firework went off in his face. At Chichester, West Sussex, an eight-year-old had leg injuries after fireworks went off in a house.
IT'S REALLY A MIRACLE THAT NONE OF THE FIRE CREW DIED
BRICKS, bottles, fireworks and verbal abuse rained down on police and fire crews as bonfire night was marred by violence. Emergency crews were lucky to escape serious injury when they were targeted by thugs as they attended callouts. The worst incident came in Rutherglen, near Glasgow, where a full-scale riot left two policemen injured. One officer was struck on the arm by a firework and the other suffered a broken nose when he was hit with a brick.
A car containing a family and their baby burst into flames on a motorway after a firework was thought to have been placed in the engine. The family were driving on the M621 in their Ford Focus when they noticed sparks coming out from under the bonnet. They pulled onto the hard shoulder and managed to get themselves and their small baby out before the fire took hold.
Explosion in claims after Guy Fawkes night events
A study commissioned by Churchill Home Insurance found almost two million Britons - 3.3 per cent of the population - had reported damage to their home or car due to fireworks going astray. And, for more Britons, Guy Fawkes meant even greater damage: more than four million people claim to have been hurt or have a family member who has been hurt by a firework in the past, Churchill found......The survey also showed the British public had poor knowledge about firework safety. Almost half (47 per cent) of Britons planning to stage their own fireworks display admitted to storing the explosives in their house or an out-building. Nearly a third (31 per cent) did not take any precautions and left fireworks in the cardboard box they came in.
Over the past five years over 350 pre-school children, some as young as one-year-old, were treated in hospital for firework injuries.
PET owners are being warned that Bonfire Night can be the most traumatic time of the year for animals. Nationally, around 5,000 pets are expected to be treated for firework-related injuries and distress at this time of year. As many as 40 per cent of pet owners will see their cats and dogs suffer from behavioural problems.
Have-a-go hero relives Halloween horror
HAVE-A-GO hero Simon Monk today relived the horror moments when he was attacked by a gang of Halloween yobs and said: "Id do it all again." The battered dad-of-two, who is waiting to have his face rebuilt by surgeons, had fireworks aimed at his head and was smashed in the face.
Mr Monk, a forklift truck engineer, was left with a fractured cheek bone and eye socket after confronting the youths who were terrorising his cul-de-sac
In New Zealand there was a progressive banning of all Pyrotechnics except for legitimate displays...in the early 1990's legislation was passed that all fireworks were banned in New Zealand except for legitimate displays for Guy Fawkes night Incidents that made this legislation more easily enacted were stunts such as attaching coins to the heads of fireworks to make them pierce windows and soem idiot attempting to shoot down the medical retrieval helicopter with a sky rocket...... In New York City there have always been a significant number of Fireworks injuries in the period of time leading up the the Fourth of July. Last year the Police and Fire Departments conduct a vigorous enforcement campaign against the sale of fireworks, which as been illegal in New York City for decades. In 1996 there was not a single fireworks related injury.
Child Accident Prevention Trust
How many children are injured in firework accidents?In Great Britain in the four weeks surrounding Bonfire Night 2001, 1362 people were treated in hospital casualty departments after an accident involving a firework. 685 children under 16 were treated in hospital for injuries caused by fireworks that is over half of all cases in Great Britain. Many more boys than girls were injured by fireworks particularly in the 12 to 15 age group.
