By Owen Hughes
Daily Post
LIVERPOOL, England — A firefighter suffered serious burns when a high powered firework went off prematurely — but his face was saved by his protective helmet.
The fireman was performing safety checks at the Colwyn Bay bonfire display when the firework went off, smashing into his helmet which was broken by the impact.
The firefighter was taken to the specialist burns unit at Whiston Hospital. He returned home yesterday afternoon and has been told he will make a full recovery from the burns.
North Wales Fire Service says the incident, which is being investigated, highlights the dangers of fireworks.
A spokeswoman said: “Even for the professional, fireworks can be highly dangerous. The firefighter’s face was saved by his helmet, otherwise this would have been much more serious.
“He was lucky he had protective clothing which protected his face. An ordinary person in the back garden would not have all this protection and would have suffered serious injuries in this incident.”
Richard Fairhead, senior fire safety manager, said: “Fireworks and bonfires can be very dangerous. This is why we have been appealing to residents only to attend organised, professional events. “Even the most well organised home events can go wrong - these events are definitely best left to the professionals.
Mr Fairhead appealed to everyone planning to celebrate bonfire season over the weekend to attend organised events - a list can be found at www.nwalesfireservice.org.uk.
He added: “If you must use fireworks yourself, please follow the fireworks safety code and do not leave bonfires or children unsupervised.”
Thousands of pounds of rainsoaked fireworks could be binned.
Llandudno Town Council shelled out for a pier display that was cancelled at the last minute.
Severe weather warnings forced organisers to call off the event, even though rain cleared by the time the show was due to start.
But the pyrotechnics, which were already in place, took a battering by the torrential rain.
Experts are waiting for the fuses to dry out to see if rockets and static displays can be reused.
Last night, Llandudno’s town clerk Tessa Wildermoth said 20% of the fireworks might have to be binned. But she could not provide a cost because the council has a contracted arrangement with the fire-setter, who was unavailable for comment yesterday.
“Hopefully most will be reusable,” said Ms Wildermoth.
“There was no way of protecting the fireworks once they were on the pier so a small percentage will be too damaged to be used.”
“The fire-setter is extremely experienced and had to take his men off the pier because the whether was so bad.”
It is not yet known whether the event will be rescheduled — plans to move it from Guy Fawkes Night to last night were also scrapped.
A statement released on behalf of the town council said: “Regrettably, due to strong winds and heavy rain the fireworks display had to be cancelled. Conditions on the pier had become too dangerous for the fire-setters — one man was almost blown off.”
It adds: “It takes a minimum of four hours to set up the display and conditions on the end of the pier can be significantly different from those on the prom.”
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