A
Personal Story
The Accident
-- This happened back in
1987, on January 25th at 1400 hrs. The only reason why any of this took place is due
to lack of safety on my part. You never do anything with your pyro formulas to get
them hot.
Here’s what happened. I
was working on an explosive charge to test research I had done on explosive initiators.
I studied the different explosives used to build initiators, means by which to
manufacture the compounds and packages to use. I settled on one product and its
manufacturing techniques and requirements. All went well during the manufacturing
phase and its eventual storage. The problem occurred during packaging. While
packaging the compound, the mechanical properties of the test initiator were inadequate
for the experiment parameters, however, the package had been filled. Emptying it
seemed inappropriate and potentially dangerous. To top it off, I had only
manufactured a limited amount of the explosive. Reshaping the test package seemed
the safer bet and the small amount of manipulation could not affect the compound to the
point of reacting...I was wrong.
The test package
detonated while I was holding it in my right hand. The blast severed the first
phalanx off the thumb, first, and middle fingers, caused many deep lacerations, due to
flying shrapnel, inside my palm. The same shrapnel cloud embedded itself in my upper
legs. Worth noting is the fact that my face was spared because my hand absorbed most
the flying debris.
Attached
to this document is a picture of a hand which suffered the same approximate fate. It
is not my hand, however, the extent of the damage is so close, I thought it was when I
first saw it. I have also included a photo of my hand as it is today.
Everything healed well, but there are small bits of metal still embedded in my palm buried
deep in my flesh. These don’t pose any immediate risk, but every so often
pieces will surface and irritate the flesh where they must be removed surgically (not with
an exacto knife...by means of a certified surgeon).
Post-op
Analysis
The whole event did startle me,
but did not deter me from my interests in explosives and fireworks. I had to stop
working on any projects started before the accident since I still lived with my parents at
the time. I think they were more scared then I was about the whole thing.
However, they had a point: I was not certified to do that sort of activity.
If I had to look back at what
started my interest, I would owe it to a fireworks display in honour of my home
town’s centennial back in 1978. I was always a curious child and explored the
world around me with great zeal, but this particular display peaked my interest. By
the age of 11 I had successfully manufactured my first batch of black powder. From
there my curiosity with energetic materials flourished. I was fascinated by the
amount of energy that could be stored and eventually released in certain chemical
compounds. Once I understood how black powder worked, I studied how different metal
salts added to the black powder gave it cool colours. I even had a little success at
making coloured smoke.
Naturally, whenever fireworks
displays were put on in my area, I was there to see them. In my early teens, family
fireworks had been approved for sale in Canada at corner stores. This made it easier
for me to manufacture more elaborate effects since I didn’t have to make all the
stars and other novelty effects. All I had to do is purchase family fireworks,
dismantle them, and recreate new ones from the base components. It made it easy to
make larger shells with more colourful effects by using readily available components.
Because of my natural curiosity,
it wasn’t long until I wanted to experiment with high explosives (HE). More
research on the manufacturing and availability of chemicals paved the way to the
manufacturing of various HE compounds. I want to point out that my interests in HE
and pyrotechnics is concerned with beneficial activities to people. Unfortunately,
we as people have used these compounds for destructive purposes and the taking of lives,
rather than improving on them.
This is what led me to the loss of
part of my right hand fingers. Looking at it all, I cannot say that any of it has
put me off from the wonders of pyrotechnics and explosives. I would like to think
that I have a bit more wisdom because of it. I certainly have a very different
respect for it all. In fact, I have recently gotten involved again in the world of
fireworks by studying under the aegis of someone who has done it for over 30 years and has
offered to mentor me into building a business of my own. People ask me whether I
have a fear of working with explosive like I do. Well, there is always an element of
fear - that’s what keeps you grounded. The point is, you cannot let fear
control you while working with explosives. One must have respect for them, not fear,
you may otherwise make a mistake and hurt yourself or worse, members of your crew or
audience.
Why
I cannot say that I really know
why I am so fascinated with fireworks and explosives. I know I have a curious mind
and passion for adventure. Maybe once you discover you have those qualities, you
can’t really stay away from it. Now I’m certain that if one doesn’t
choose to gain wisdom from one’s experiences, you’re bound to repeat the same
stupid mistakes. Maybe those who try, get hurt, and never go back never really had
the natural instinct to go beyond their tragedy. I think about the astronauts who
have perished or gotten injured in the process of space exploration. What if they
had quit after their first mistake, where would we be today. In fact, I believe that
most of what we appreciate today had to have been gotten through some kind of trial and
error, experiment and improvement. I am certain there are better ways to study
something you like, than to do it in your parent’s basement in secret and in fear
that something terrible will happen. Then again, that’s how I got my start.
I just wish that my mentor was around at the time I started this trek, I’m
sure I would be further today.
