I'm having a good chuckle here. What started out as a serious tragedy is resulting in folks who wanted fireworks banned, cheering.

Some weeks ago, a large fireworks manufacturing and storage facility in Denmark blew up. In so doing, the resulting explosion wiped out a whole residential neighbourhood, flattening houses, blasting out windows, removing roofs and burning some down. You can see some of the devastation here:

http://www.blumefoto.dk/sidste%20nyt...rudtfabrik.htm

http://www.dr.dk/nyheder/indland/art...ticleID=211335

1 fireman was killed. Many more were put in hospital due to smoke inhalation. 350 houses were destroyed, 750 in total suffered some type of damage.

People had no chance at all to get anything valuable from their houses, they were just told to run and run fast.

The public is up in arms. Why was a fireworks facility placed so close to a residential area?

Well the government has responded. They are moving all fireworks facilities away from residential areas. But more than that, they have put bans on storing fireworks in residential areas.

"Over the past four years, we've virtually pushed our customers into investing in safe rooms for storing fireworks. Now the government comes along and says they can't store fireworks in these rooms if they're located in residential building. So people stop ordering, and ultimately, that's going to pull the rug out from under Denmark's fireworks manufacturers. I wouldn't be surprised if the new safety guidelines wipe out 80 percent of the customer base for fireworks in this country," said Sørensen.

A team of government inspectors has already begun a tour of the country to inspect known fireworks storage facilities. Regulations for the placement of fireworks containers outside retail shops will be sharpened, and the maximum amount of fireworks per container will be lowered to 1,000 kg apiece."


New years in Denmark is like living in a bomb testing site. The smoke from the fireworks is so dense that it filters into all the houses choking people. After 5 minutes of them going off, you cant even see them anymore due to the smoke cover. The noise is just deafening.
And I live in the countryside!

For years and years now a group has been fighting the selling of fireworks for the sake of the wildlife and other animals that live in close proximity. Well, I for one hope they jump on this latest fiasco and push harder to ban the selling of them to the general public. For a country that claims to be ecologically conscious, New Years makes a bloody farce of this sentiment.

Take a peek around your neighbourhood and ask how safe it really is if stores in residential areas are stocking up on fireworks, or neighbours are stocking up. The Kolding fireworks explosion started when one rocket fell to the ground.

--Tracy