Independence Day 2022 is history, but we hope you had a wonderful time making memories and celebrating the joy of America’s freedoms. Parades and picnics, capped off by fireworks and sparklers, add to the excitement. While you’re enjoying your festivities, however, please be cautious – not only when using but when storing your fireworks.
Fireworks Don’t Belong in Your Self Storage Unit
When it’s time to pack up and store the patriotic decorations, sparklers, and fireworks for next year, please don’t stash your extras in your self storage unit.
For starters, it’s against the policy at most self storage facilities to store fireworks or any other type of explosive in your self storage unit. The possibility of an explosion is too risky for your personal possessions and those of other tenants. Additionally, stored fireworks or explosive materials of any type create a severe hazard to any of the staff or visitors. It’s not worth risking serious injury or damage by storing fireworks or other flammable materials in your unit.
Your self storage insurance or Storage Shield tenant protection plan could be invalid if you store unauthorized items. If you’re curious, here is a complete list of items that you are not permitted to place in self storage:
Plants
Firearms and munitions
Food and pet food
Flammables, explosives, radioactive materials
Lead paint, asbestos, urea-formaldehyde, petroleum products, or methane
Medical waste
Stolen goods
Cash (not covered by insurance)
Clearly, fireworks are considered explosives. If you have leftover fireworks that you need to store, stay safe by following the guidelines below.
How to Store Fireworks
These tips are not guaranteed, but they can help keep you and your family safe
Tip 1: Depending on where you live, it may not be legal to store fireworks anywhere on your property. If you want to store your leftover fireworks, check your city or county ordinances to verify that storing them is permitted.
Tip 2: High temperatures do not set fireworks off. It’s okay to store them in a hot, dry environment; it’s only the heat from a match or lighter that sets them off.
Tip 3: Keep those unused fireworks in a secure place away from your home and family. The best place is a locked shed that is far away from the house. And, don’t store them near ignitable, flammable materials like oil, gasoline, water heaters, or any kind of open flames.
Tip 4: Don’t store them in cardboard boxes. Not only will these add fuel to the fire if there is a catastrophe, but cardboard will not protect fireworks from water. The best solution is a metal storage container. Be careful not to overpack the box and crush the lower layers, ruining the fireworks for later use.
Tip 5: Do not tell your children where the fireworks are stored, and be sure that pets can’t get at them.
Tip 6: Keep a fire extinguisher near the fireworks storage area.
Tip 7: If fireworks get wet, they become unstable and should be completely soaked and then discarded. Don’t ever try to dry them and reuse them.
Tip 8: When fireworks have been stored in a manner that keeps them dry, the chemicals do not deteriorate or become unstable or dangerous. If no moisture gets into the packaging, fireworks can last 50 years and perform as if they were new.
The main thing to remember is the safety of you and your family. Follow the above tips, and you shouldn’t have any problems.
Now that we have the serious stuff out of the way, here is a bit of Fourth of July trivia from The Old Farmer’s Almanac.
Fun Fourth of July Facts
- July 4, 1776: Thomas Jefferson noted in his “Weather Memorandum Book” that the weather was cloudy, the temperature 76ºF.
- July 4, 1776: Only two men signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776—John Hancock and Charles Thompson.
- July 4, 1777: During the 1777 independence celebration in Philadelphia, a ship fired a 13-gun salute to honor the 13 colonies, and the Sons of Liberty set off fireworks over Boston Common.
- July 4, 1826: Both John Adams and Thomas Jefferson—signers of the Declaration of Independence who each later became president—died on the 50th anniversary of the adoption of the declaration.
- July 4, 1884: The Statue of Liberty was formally presented to the United States by the people of France.
- July 4, 1911: It was a hot Fourth of July in New England. All-time state records were set in Nashua, New Hampshire (106°F), and Vernon, Vermont (105°F).
- July 4, 1938: The Fourth of July became a national holiday.
Enjoy celebrating this patriotic holiday with your family and friends, but stay safe by being extra cautious when you’re using and storing fireworks.