Don't try this at home

No myths were busted, but a couple may have been blown up.

Inspired by the Discovery Channel's MythBusters television series, The Augusta Chronicle developed a series of experiments designed to confirm and illustrate the hazards of fireworks.

We had some professional help on hand, including Brian Panowich, an Augusta firefighter.

Here's what a fistful of matches, a small arsenal of fireworks and some Salvation Army accoutrements proved.

It probably goes without saying, but don't try this at home.

GRAPE SHOT

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there were approximately 1,500 fireworks-related eye injuries in the U.S. from June 15 to July 15 2006. So, while a bottle rocket to the baby blues might seem improbable, it can happen. We wanted to test the sort of trauma an eye might experience from a bottle rocket attack, so using a grape as an ocular stand-in, we launched a bottle rocket through a length of pipe at a grape. The bottle rocket burned right through it.

HOT POCKETS

Dr. Douglas Nesbitt, an Augusta pediatrician, was scheduled to be on hand for our tests. Sadly, a C-section took precedence. Still, he inspired one of our tests, with a story of a young man who was carrying bottle rockets in his coat pocket when he was hit, in the pocket, by another bottle rocket. Oh, the irony of it all.

It brings up a good point, however. It's important to properly transport fireworks, and pockets are not proper. To illustrate this, we loaded the pocket of a pair of pants and lit the fuse. The outside of the pants survived intact, but the interior, the area closest to the leg, disintegrated.

Ouch.

HEAD GAMES

The CDC cites leaning over to observe a lighted firework as being common injury-inducing behavior. It's not uncommon to see a disappointed fan of pyrotechnics poking at a rocket only to have the fuse catch a second wind. Boom.

To illustrate the hazards involved, we mounted the head of a red-headed doll - affectionately dubbed Ariel - on the end of a PVC pipe and asked her to "observe" a lighted firework. In all honesty, Ariel may have been held over the heat a little too long for realistic results, but the principle is the same.

ROCKET, MAN

According to the National Fire Protection Association, fireworks caused 32,600 fires in 2006. While most were of the grass -and-shrub variety, about 1,700 were structural fires. To illustrate this too common phenomenon, we taped a rather lethal looking rocket to a sheet of particle board and lit the fuse. The rocket almost got away but the tape held. And the board burned. Although subjected to only a few seconds of rocket's red glare, the wood showed significant charring.

REALLY HOT DOG

According to the CDC, sparklers burn at temperatures in excess of 1,000 degrees. That's a lot of heat. To demonstrate what can happen to flesh when exposed to a burning sparkler, we placed a hot dog on an improvised grill of sparklers and lit them. The fire burned very fast, very bright and thoroughly burned one side of the hot dog. Nobody present was willing to give it a taste test.

FIRE IN THE BACKYARD

Mr. Panowich said a significant number of service calls firefighters receive involve fireworks that have fallen or been improperly discarded onto dry grass. To test the flammability of dried plant material, we stuck a burning sparkler into a small cauldron of dry pine straw, observing how long it took to ignite. In less than 10 seconds the pine straw was smoking and smoldering, and in less than 15 seconds there was a significant flame.

THE BELL JAR

According to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, loud, percussive sounds, such as firearms, explosions or fireworks, are particularly hard on the hearing. To illustrate the percussive power of a firecracker explosion, we placed a firecracker in a puddle of paint and placed a glass dome over it. The result was a quick and relatively thorough coat of paint over the majority of the glass cover. Hearing protection is recommended while lighting fireworks, unless you want your ears semi-glossed.

FOAM SHRAPNEL

A popular myth has it that a firecracker set off in a closed hand can cause injury, but a firecracker that pops in an open palm will do no damage.

Hmmm.

To test this theory, we set off two firecrackers, one on top of a plastic foam cup, representing the open palm, and one in a cup. While the blast inside the cup did appreciably more damage, the explosion on the cup still managed to blow a pretty good hole in the top. Our advice is to keep firecrackers on the ground.