Tips for celebrating the new year safely

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - It’s time for a new year and what better way to bring it in than lighting up the night sky.

“Just getting some fireworks trying to enjoy the new year especially with everything that’s going on, so trying to have a happy time,” Clairissa Griffin said.

Clairissa Griffin is with her family at MK-3 Fireworks picking out some of her favorite fireworks.

“I love the hand grenades that is my favorite thing to hand grenades,” Griffin said.

The New Year’s Eve tradition to pop a few fireworks is  even more fun when you’re also celebrating another birthday.

”We had Christmas now his birthday now the new year so he’s excited. He’s like what are we doing next that’s all he’s worried about what are we doing next,“ Kyle Taylor said.

”I’m going to be having fun with my sister and all my family and my dad,” Kadeon Taylor said.

As fun and beautiful as these fireworks may be, it is also important to remember to take those safety precautions seriously when popping them with your family.

“The thing we do see a great increase of is injuries of using fireworks. With the hands eyes and things like that,” said Justin Hill.

Justin Hill with the Baton Rouge Fire Department said New Year’s Eve can be a busy night for the team, even though fireworks are illegal in East Baton Rouge Parish. The first responder says most of their calls are for severe burns often caused by fireworks that may not appear as dangerous.

“A lot of children get injured using those sparklers because we think that hey this is safe for a child to use but they’re burning very hot and it can cause major injuries,” Hill said.

Hill recommends always keeping an eye on the kids around fireworks, wait until your fireworks are completely finished before moving them, and fight the urge to let it go off while it’s still in your hand.

”We just want to end this year on a good note and not see you take a trip to the hospital,” Hill said.

Most of the folks out today say they want to safely move on to next year while wrapping up 2020 with a bang.

“You couldn’t do it for Thanksgiving and Christmas so we’re going to have fun today we’re going to go outside and have some fun today,” Griffin said.

“Invite some family over try to start the new year right, that’s it,” Kyle Taylor said.

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