Editorial: Let's leave it to the professionals

OPINION: The overwhelming emotion felt by anyone reading the story of a house fire in St Andrews in the Herald Weekender must surely have been relief. Relief that nobody came to serious harm as a result of the fire.

On the face of it, the whole incident was simply a tragic mishap, with a firework getting "out of control" to quote the story. Fortunately, that wayward firework didn't bring about a situation in which anyone lost their life. It could have been so much worse, because it wasn't immediately obvious that it had landed in the sunroom of the house, sparking the blaze.

Accidents like this are clearly among the reasons fireworks are not sold to the general public throughout the year, along with the traumatic effect their use has on animals.

But one has to ask if it isn't simply time to draw a line under the whole issue and have a law that says no fireworks will be sold to the general public at all. Instead, they will only be available for use in public displays in which those controlling the use of these dangerous items are trained and well aware of the dangers their use brings.

There's no indication that anyone involved in the St Andrews situation was anything less than careful, but that incident makes it clear that accidents do happen and they can have devastating consequences.

Banning fireworks altogether would be going too far, because in the right hands, they make for fantastic, colourful entertainment and cause no injury to anyone. Those available to the general public for just a short time each year are clearly not of the same strength as those used in professional displays, and used carefully can provide for great enjoyment. But it only takes one stray firework to cause huge harm. It's time we left it to the professionals and sat back to enjoy the fruits of their undoubted skills.

Another thing: The magnitude of Heath Blackgrove's win in the Tour of Southland on Saturday should not be underestimated. It is the country's biggest race and the man from Waimate's achievement is thus a huge one.

Naturally Blackgrove was disappointed not to get the nod for the Beijing Olympics last year, but he appears to have put that behind him and will be looking to build on what he achieved at the weekend.

Blackgrove's marriage to sweetheart Sharyon Johns just 90 minutes after the finish of the race on Saturday helps to make this one of the best feelgood stories to come out of New Zealand this year. Hopefully their honeymoon on Stewart Island, close to the bottom of the world, will be the launching pad for Blackgrove to climb closer to the top of the world in cycling terms.

- © Fairfax NZ News