First close call

[Jake-Pa]

I had my first firework close call tonight. I set off an Aquarian cake and it fell over after the first shot. Two of the shots hit my house and the rest went into the woods. It set 3 fires in the woods that i was fortunately able to put out with a 5 gallon bucket of water and a rake. Kinda scary but definitely a learning experience.

[Pyro Nation]

Why not secure it is my question???

[mguerra]

I duct tape my cakes together or to other used cakes to prevent them tipping. We can't use stakes here because there is limestone bedrock an inch under the surface!

[wizard7611]

I remember one time one of my neighbors lit a small 25 shot cake that was really loud during our block party on the street. Obviously, the cake tipped over, but it also shot into their garage. Luckily no one was hurt and no damage was done.

[Pyro@Mach13]

ABC!!!! Always brace cakes! Never an excuse to not do so.... make this a big lesson learned for all.

[zmaster725]

O ya, gotta secure it. I sometimes hot glue my cakes to a board. Also, the brown gum tape works well to hold them down. I went to a 1.3 demo once and will not disclose the dealer but they set off a 50 shot fleetness in spring(salute Cake), and of course it tipped over and almost got my cargo trailer.

[jknepp1954]

Jake - hopefully this will be a lesson learned - SECURE ALL CAKES. Diff ways to do that. Stake them down, and duct tape that. Duct tape to a board. Gorilla glue to board. Hillbilly style - at least if nothing else, set block, rocks or similar on all sides.
You are very lucky nothing happened majorly - next time may not be so lucky.

[Jman]

Hey man, it happens. I've been shooting pyro for 35 years and I did the same thing with a small 200g Red Rhino cake last year. Normally I push some rocks up around the tall hexagon shaped cakes but for some bonehead reason I didnt do that to the oklahoma storm. Its only 7 shots but its a stout little cake. It shot toward my house, then it made everyone get up out of their seats and the yard swings and run for cover...then that little bastard turned its attention with the last 3 shots toward the dry dry grass along side the highway in front of my house. I was a 43 year old fat boy with my shirt off beating down the side of the highway and burning the souls of my tennis shoes up trying to avoid a call to the local fire department and an embarrassing write up in the local newspaper. I could just see the headlines of our local county newspaper.......Jman's Fireworks sets highway 10 on fire....lol. When I finally got that baby put out all I could smell was burning rubber, synged leg hair and burnt cotton....So don't feel too bad, just learn from it like the others said....that is if you can learn from it, not sure I've learned much thru the years after that little incident. Its laughable now looking back, but it could have been a bad situation so I only laugh about it 90% of the time....lol:D

[PGH_Pyro]

concrete blocks or several bricks are good assuming you dont have to transport them everytime you go shoot cakes .

[Pyro k]

I also had this happen with a little 200g cake. However I had the little guys taped together 4 of them and also used some loctite adhesive to the board. I'm not sure what exactly happen because I was hand Fireing a bunch down the line and the next thing I know I have stuff flyin at me. I of course bolted until it was done and continued lighting to keep the show going! Later to find out it started a little grass fire behind me that a spotter put out. Long story short after some investigating it appeared that it might of shot out the side somehow. Live and learn anything can happen

[NWPA]

Always expect the unexpected. Many years ago I lit a Giant volcano cone, rather then lots of sparks it exploded with a thunderous roar. Only about 10 feet away and it caused my nose to bleed. Was never that close to such a large explosion before. In hind sight I think it was a black volcano with the wrong label. This was about 1959/1960. But a good lesson is never forgotten. Never trust any fireworks to do what they are supposed to do. So you see, Mishaps are nothing new.

[PyroJoeNEPA]

Just a point to take note of_if you are using construction adhesive or some other glue to secure cakes to a board you MUST remove the paper from the bottom of the cake or else you are wasting glue & time! Be sure you are getting the adhesive on both the clay plugs & the tubes.
Another "method" not mentioned here yet is to put drywall screws into the wood board on opposite sides of the cake and run a piece of thin steel wire--similar to that used to hang pictures on the wall--twist it on one screw, run it up & over the cake--BETWEEN THE TUBES----NOT OVER ANY--& twist on the other side of the cake. Easy setup & you can use your boards over for several years without build up of glue on them. More secure than duct tape!
Also, a "water can" style fire extinguisher is a priceless investment. They can be bought used for around $35.00-$40.00. Fill with water & a few drops of dish washing detergent & pressurize to 100 lbs--the soap makes the water stick to the tubes of a burning cake & helps put it out much faster with less water.
If you can't do that--a garden hose ready to go & a bucket or two of water strategically placed are wise moves.

[PyroManiacs]

Damnit Joe, with all this great info.... your making us become better Pyros!!! I cant take this!!!! AAAAHHHHhh!!!

[Pyro k]

Damnit Joe, with all this great info.... your making us become better Pyros!!! I cant take this!!!! AAAAHHHHhh!!!

2nd that!!!

[displayfireworks1]

In the past I have seen these fountains explode louder than traditional salutes. If you search YouTube you can find some video.
.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxaiO_tRs1M

[PyroManiacs]

lol, dude was like.... "America!!" haha

[PGH_Pyro]

have to wonder if a factory worker in china somewhere was trying to be funny by making them do that

[pyromustang]

I had case fountains that one out of two would blow up. I was showing how safe fountains were to a news crew. guess what happen.:confused:

[PyroJoeNEPA]

Damnit Joe, with all this great info.... your making us become better Pyros!!! I cant take this!!!! AAAAHHHHhh!!!

Being a "better Pyro" is a good thing!!! Anything we can do to help each other out!

[PyroManiacs]

I can probably speak for everyone when saying it is appreciated!

[Jman]

I currently have some wizards hat foutains by brothers that blow up like a salute everytime...loud loud loud! They spit and sputter like a fountain is supposed too for about 20 seconds...then KABOOM!!! Last year I lit one on purpose at our 4th family get together. Everyone was like...oh its so pretty its so nice ... then BOOM!! everyone halfway laughing halfway crying saying....what happened. They were not too happy when they found out I already knew what was going to happen ....lol

[Pyro@Mach13]

J
Another "method" not mentioned here yet is to put drywall screws into the wood board on opposite sides of the cake


Hmmm... Joe that made me think of the possibility of cakes that have the piece of wood on the bottom of simply screwing that board down. I use 4 x 8 sheets of plywood to set up my 4th show on. I work in a 1 sided pavilion under cover and have the boards carried to the field. I wonder if that would be string enough. Some of the cakes have a decent thickness bottom. That would save a wee bit of time. Gluing down 150 plus cakes takes some time. Always looking to save time.

[PyroJoeNEPA]

Hmmm... Joe that made me think of the possibility of cakes that have the piece of wood on the bottom of simply screwing that board down. I use 4 x 8 sheets of plywood to set up my 4th show on. I work in a 1 sided pavilion under cover and have the boards carried to the field. I wonder if that would be string enough. Some of the cakes have a decent thickness bottom. That would save a wee bit of time. Gluing down 150 plus cakes takes some time. Always looking to save time.

You could try it, but I see it being a hassle to get under the board to get the screws through into the bottom. Using short drywall screws & the steel wire lets you mark out your boards in advance--with a sharpie--for the cakes--put the screws in the board & then when it is time to "load the board" just place the cake on the board & wire down. You can pre label the cake placement with a piece of uhaul or masking tape & sharpie--no need to put the cakes on until "show day--or whenever--but the cakes are already laid out & marked for placement, fusing, ematches, ques, etc. It is a time saver.

[pyroma]

Love the wire down idea...I made a bunch of portable "triple cake" boards with slight angles (aka \ | / ) ....what a PIA it is scraping off liquid nails. Figure screwing eye bolts in top of my boards will be a great time saver overall. Quick wire down and snip it off during break down....
thanks.

[FRWKSFAN1]

I can probably speak for everyone when saying it is appreciated!

PyroManiac1981,
You can speak for me with regards to PyroJoeNEPA posts. He consistently gives great advice to help both the young, and older fireworks enthusiasts. His posts are very useful/practical and certainly is a contributing factor that makes this fireworks forum the best that is out there.