KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A firecracker you buy from a stand can legally have no more than 50 milligrams of flash powder.
But Kyle Lovelady, a federal explosives expert, has seen illegal fireworks 20 times more powerful — and sometimes far more potent than that.
“When the accident happens, it’s not just ‘I have a burn on my hand,'” Lovelady said. “It’s ‘I don’t have a hand.'”
The results can be far worse when something goes wrong in a basement where illegal fireworks are being made.
A Kansas City man died recently after an explosion in his house tore off both legs and one arm. Three years ago in Independence, a garage exploded, killing a man and throwing his body into the backyard of another house.
This time each year, the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives begins hearing more reports of illegal fireworks on the street.