Georgians have access to very powerful explosives, now that fireworks are legal in the state, but all fireworks and fireworks shops aren’t created equal.

Chris Stephens is Georgia’s Deputy State Fire Marshall. He warns against purchasing fireworks from vendors that aren’t licensed by the state. He says those vendors might not meet all of the safety requirements of the state, and could be getting products that have not been properly tested.

“All legitimate fireworks that are offered for sale have been tested and there are illegal products that come on the market that have not been tested”. Those products, he says, could be overfilled with explosive compounds and could lead to serious damage.

He says there is an increased risk of structural fire and wildfire with expanded use of fireworks. His department offers several safety tips:

“Put a water hose out to make sure if there is a small grass fire that they can extinguish that fire.” He says. “Move away from structures whether it’s a residential structure or commercial structure because many of these aerial products do have fall out from the actual shots themselves.”

He also says never try to relight a fireworks that has failed. And when your fireworks have run their course, he suggests, “water the area down where those products were at to make sure they’re out number one and make sure that there’s nothing that may have caught the ground or grass or pine straw on fire.”

You can use fireworks every day of the year, but they can’t be fired past midnight. There’s an exception on July 3rd and 4th, and New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day; they’re allowed until 2 AM.

Tags: fireworks, fireworks safety, economy