If you love yourself some pyrotechnics this time of the year, but feel the kind you buy from area fireworks stores don't give you a big enough bang for your buck, I suggest you don't try to soup them up.

As a kid, I remember having a friend who loved to try and make his own cherry bombs. In hindsight, not the smartest thing you can do for a number of different reasons.

Authorities have an extremely short fuse when it comes to people who attempt to create their own pyrotechnics, or in someway alter the commercial grade fireworks you can buy.

KDLT News is reporting that altering fireworks is illegal. Manufacturers are in the business of ensuring the fireworks they create are typically very safe if the directions are followed correctly.

Commercially sold fireworks are not meant to be altered in any way. The KDLT News report states, if law enforcement suspects that a firework is dangerous or in a suspicious location they will usually get the bomb squad involved. If that happens, the next sound you hear could be the boom of a big fine, and depending on the severity of the situation perhaps even some jail time!

Sergeant Robert Forster with the Sioux Falls Bomb Squad told KDLT News, “Any time that you take an explosive and alter it from its original state, it becomes unstable. If you don’t know what you’re doing, or, if you add the wrong thing, or, if you have any type of a spark, static from your clothing, just depending on what chemical may be in that firework, you could ignite it, and then that would become a very dangerous situation.”

A situation that could quickly become life changing in some cases.

Authorities will occasionally encounter individuals who attempt to combine different types of fireworks together to create a bigger bang. According to Forster, “The most common things that we see around here is the bundling of different kinds of fireworks, maybe being bunched together.”

Shooting fireworks with the intent to injure someone or destroy property can result in felony charges in South Dakota.

Also, residents need to remember that lighting off fireworks that make noise, or shooting fireworks that launch into the air within Sioux Falls city limits, can result in a $95 citation.

Source: KDLT TV


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