Fireworks

1. Here’s the first thing you need to know if you ever visit a fireworks factory: Wear a cotton shirt and pants. This clothing rule is not just for your comfort. Clothes made of materials such as nylon can produce a kind of electricity. Just one spark in a fireworks factory could be explosive. A fire in a Netherlands factory in 2000 resulted in an explosion that leveled a 625-square-yard area around the building.
2. A fireworks factory is a fairly quiet place. There’s no noise from heavy machines. Almost all work is done by hand to lower the chance of fire. Workers use their bare hands to mix three kinds of powered chemicals. These will become the stars that shoot out of firework shells in a burst of colorful explosions.
3. In the next step, water is added to the star mix until it looks a bit like mud. Workers can safely pound this “mud” into the shape of a large loaf of bread. It’s also safe to cut it into cubes. The star cubes are then coated with gunpowder and set out to dry.
4. Another worker is in charge of putting star cubes into a cardboard shell. Again, this must be done carefully by hand. When the shell is filled, it is put into a hollow steel tube that has gunpowder in the bottom. Three different fuses are needed: one to start, one to make the firework take off in the air, and one to make the firework explode.
5. Fireworks must be handled even more carefully after they leave the factory. The safest way to enjoy a fireworks show is to leave it to the professionals. More than 10,000 people in the US are hurt each year when they use fireworks in their own backyard shows.

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