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View Full Version : A black fog... then a river of flames: Did rugby club fireworks cause M5 catastrophe



Big Rob
11-05-2011, 10:42 PM
A black fog... then a river of flames: Did rugby club fireworks cause M5 catastrophe that killed seven and injured 51?
(http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2058100/M5-CRASH-A-black-fog--river-flames-Did-rugby-club-fireworks-cause-M5-catastrophe-killed-seven-injured-51.html)

According the the BBC this is being seriously looked at.... Thoughts?

Pyro Nation
11-06-2011, 09:36 AM
Visibility could of been a major issue with no wind to move the smoke. Something like that should of been addressed before doing the show. Hard lesson to learn

Big Rob
11-06-2011, 10:49 PM
The visibility was already bad. I am not sure whether this is pyrotechnician incompetence or whether other factors were involved. (Guy Fawkes night also involves a tradition of lighting bonfires).

The UK press has the guy and company hung drawn and quartered.

displayfireworks1
11-09-2011, 11:29 PM
Here is a video news report about the accident. This is very unfortunate accident. Could fireworks smoke have caused this? Possibly, fireworks certainly make a lot of smoke. I am not sure if anyone on the forum from Pennsylvania was a part of the fireworks display at Polk Hospital several years ago, the area was well know for moisture and poor air movement because of the way it was geographically situated. Even the smoke from the flares would just lay there and gather. Then one year the smoke was so bad that you could not even see the fireworks in the air. Immediately before the last minutes of the display the pyro-technicians had quick meeting and decided to still shoot the final minutes and finale. It was the most surreal experience; you could hear all the shells bursting in the air but could not see them at all because the fog and smoke was that thick. Then when the show was over you could barely see to walk. I thought for sure, there would be an accident when the audience went to their cars. When you look at this news report video, it looks like a moist foggy area. Fireworks smoke with moist damp conditions can be a problem.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Ma7LXal7mg