Oooh, How Pretty!
Fireworks are beautiful. I've loved them since I was a child. To see a light explode in the night sky into streams of different colors, and to feel the boom resound right through me was the definition of summer and good weather. More than anything because I only saw fireworks on the Fourth of July. Here we see them at almost every festival. Only the very small parrochial festivals don't have them, like ours. Last Saturday, a week late because of the weather, Vilagarcía de Arousa had their Batalla Naval, the fireworks to celebrate the end of their festival. We are about a half hour drive away and we could hear the booming from our house. If we had driven to a high spot in the hills nearby, we would have seen them blossoming over the ría.
But all their beauty has a downside to it. For, to be able to see those fireworks break open in all their glory, many different ingredients have to be put together, including dangerous gun powder. Yesterday there was an explosion at a pyrotechnic company in Zaragoza and five people died. Since 1995, at least 59 people have died in what must be one of the most dangerous jobs in this country. A job that brings momentary beauty and wonder to many, but can also bring death and destruction to those who create it. The law is very strict, and most companies have adapted. For example, the huts where the different chemicals are mixed are separated and I believe only the personnel directly involved are ever allowed in. In footage from the explosion and rescue effort in Zaragoza all the huts were seen isolated by tall banks of earth. The huts also have to be a certain distance from any habitation. There are companies, though, that have been overtaken by time and construction. There was an explosion at a company near Santiago in 2006. Fortunately, it happened at past six in the morning and no one was hurt. But houses for miles around had windows and roofs torn asunder in the blast. The explosion was obviously investigated and the owner was found guilty in a subsequent trial, of warehousing the gunpowder in greater quantities than he was allowed by license in a hut that was not meant for manipulating or storing gunpowder. The houses were also too close to the site because of old building codes in the town that permitted them to be built. Things have, thankfully, been changing since then.
Is there a justification for the danger? I suppose the same justification as there is for many jobs. Fifty-nine people in twenty years is a big number, but in the year 2013 five hundred forty people died at their jobs, including sixty-five just in construction. That was in only one year. While fireworks aren't necessary to our well-being like a tightly constructed home, they have become a part of our culture of celebration. Every since they were brought from China a long time ago, where they were originally used to frighten evil spirits, fireworks have been incorporated into our religious and civil shouts of joy. I hope fireworks manufacturers simply keep improving safety regulations and that the fireworks don't disappear from the summer night skies.
But all their beauty has a downside to it. For, to be able to see those fireworks break open in all their glory, many different ingredients have to be put together, including dangerous gun powder. Yesterday there was an explosion at a pyrotechnic company in Zaragoza and five people died. Since 1995, at least 59 people have died in what must be one of the most dangerous jobs in this country. A job that brings momentary beauty and wonder to many, but can also bring death and destruction to those who create it. The law is very strict, and most companies have adapted. For example, the huts where the different chemicals are mixed are separated and I believe only the personnel directly involved are ever allowed in. In footage from the explosion and rescue effort in Zaragoza all the huts were seen isolated by tall banks of earth. The huts also have to be a certain distance from any habitation. There are companies, though, that have been overtaken by time and construction. There was an explosion at a company near Santiago in 2006. Fortunately, it happened at past six in the morning and no one was hurt. But houses for miles around had windows and roofs torn asunder in the blast. The explosion was obviously investigated and the owner was found guilty in a subsequent trial, of warehousing the gunpowder in greater quantities than he was allowed by license in a hut that was not meant for manipulating or storing gunpowder. The houses were also too close to the site because of old building codes in the town that permitted them to be built. Things have, thankfully, been changing since then.
Is there a justification for the danger? I suppose the same justification as there is for many jobs. Fifty-nine people in twenty years is a big number, but in the year 2013 five hundred forty people died at their jobs, including sixty-five just in construction. That was in only one year. While fireworks aren't necessary to our well-being like a tightly constructed home, they have become a part of our culture of celebration. Every since they were brought from China a long time ago, where they were originally used to frighten evil spirits, fireworks have been incorporated into our religious and civil shouts of joy. I hope fireworks manufacturers simply keep improving safety regulations and that the fireworks don't disappear from the summer night skies.
Nicely presented from two sides. Safety in work should be normal even in less dangerous jobs.
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