Sunday, November 05, 2006

Bonfire safety tip

I was very saddened to hear that last night a man died at a bonfire because something inside it exploded, and launched itself at the man.

You can read the sad story here.

For as long as I can remember I have always followed the following practice.

If I am going to light a fire , I may gather everything together in advance but once I start building the fire I never leave it until it is alight. Not for one minute.

Occasionally I have bonfires on my allotment to get rid of garden waste and the sort of weeds you get in West Sussex (You get dandelions, we get those too, but we also get trees all over the place).

One time a friend has some stuff to burn, so he set up his bit before I got there. When I did get there with my stuff I realised that the fire had been left unattended and took it apart. There was an empty aerosol can in there which would have gone off like a bomb, causing injury.

So never ever leave a fire and then light it. By all means get everything ready, but when it is time to get it going build it from scratch. Please.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I have spent the last couple of bonfire nights at my sisters and really enjoyed the much more relaxed atmosphere, rather than being pushed and jostled at organised events. All went well, I am pleased to report, my favoourite was the Manhattan, which lived up to its name and was very sparkly and twinkly.