The autumn/winter holiday season is closing in at an alarming pace and depending on where you live, bonfires and/or fireworks may be everywhere due to being a tradition for certain holidays that occur this time of year.

I live in the UK so this post was originally written with fellow UK residents in mind in preparation for Guy Fawkes night on nov 5th (fireworks are available to buy from local stores and supermarkets this time of year, making it far too easy for the general public to get ahold of them and some people in my local area like to be selfish and set them off randomly several weeks before and after the holiday itself), but this is all general advice that can and should be applied to any event where fireworks and bonfires are present!

I would advise against buying your own fireworks and having your own private displays due to the dangers involved, if you want to see fireworks you'd be better off attending an organized public display where they have public safety regulations in place if you're able to. But if you can't or don't want to attend a public display and you're absolutely dead set on buying and setting off fireworks or starting a bonfire of your own for whatever reason, you need to:

• Make sure it's legal in your area before you make any celebration plans. If you live in a heavily built up urban/suburban neighbourhood, fireworks, bonfires, incinerators and barbecue/outdoor grills will most likely be illegal in your area and/or disallowed in your property rental terms or ownership deeds, these places tend to be classed as 'smoke free zones'.

• Don't host a gathering/ firework display or attend one if you feel tired or unwell in any way. You need to be on full alert around fire and fireworks, if you cannot function, react and think properly due to feeling tired or unwell you're putting yourself and other people in danger. If you're sick with a contagious illness (seasonal viruses, stomach/sickness bugs etc), you shouldn't be attending any social events until you've fully recovered.

• Avoid buying rockets or other types of fireworks that create loud noise.

• If you absolutely insist on having rockets and other types of loud fireworks, have the decency to let your neighbours and other people in your immediate area know about your plans ahead of time. Some people suffer from PTSD or other conditions where loud noises cause severe stress, anxiety, panic attacks etc and need to know about your celebration plans in advance for the sake of their health. Many people also keep pets that need outside access or live outside or have animals that are frightened and stressed out by loud noise and will need time to get them safely secured and settled down. This also goes for rural areas where there's a lot of farmland, livestock such as horses and cattle are often nervous, flighty creatures and may trample each other in panic or suffer a heart attack and die from fright if spooked. Firework displays are also a leading cause of mass death in wild birds.

• Have a safety plan and emergency measures in place just in case anything goes wrong, and make sure you know your local fire emergency service and ambulance contact details. Fireworks going rogue due to manufacturing faults or errors in set up etc happens and the results can lead to death or serious life altering injury.

• Always keep fire extinguishers, buckets of water and whatever other fire extinguishing tools/equipment you happen to have on hand and in place that can be quickly and easily accessed. Make sure all of your fire extinguishers and other safety equipment is in good, functional condition.

• Never leave fireworks near a source of heat or open flame.

• Check all of your fireworks for damage thoroughly before you set them up. Any that look faulty or suspicious in any way should not be used and needs to be disposed of in a safe manner.

• Be mindful of where you set your fireworks up and which direction the wind will carry the smoke/sparks and which way your rockets are likely to fly off in. Don't angle them in the direction of or set them off too close or to yours or your neighbour's houses, other structures or forested and heavily planted areas.

• Don't set off more than one firework at a time.

• Do not hold fireworks in your hand while lighting the fuses.

• Never throw fireworks at anyone or anything for any reason, even if they haven't been lit.

• Never approach fireworks once they've been lit. What seems like a dud might not be, there's the potential of it just being a slow burning fuse that can suddenly go off unexpectedly.

• Don't try relighting duds.

• Don't let your children anywhere near fireworks or any sources of fire, it would be safer for them to stay inside and watch the display through the window.

• If you're giving your kids sparklers, they should be supervised by a responsible adult at all times.

• Make sure you put your used sparklers in a bucket of water to cool off when you're done with them, the cores are made from metal and will still be hot enough to leave burns for a while after the sparks go out.

• 6-8 pm is the perfect time for a display, it gets dark by 4-5pm this time of year. There's absolutely no excuse for you to be setting fireworks off at or after 10pm when most people are going to bed.

• Keep the weather in mind, you'll want to be extra careful things don't unintentionally catch fire if conditions in your area are very dry. Colder temperatures will also amplify sound, making the noise from loud fireworks even worse.

• If you're going to start a bonfire, always make sure you thoroughly check the pile of garden rubbish etc. you plan to burn to make sure there aren't any animals hiding or hibernating in it. Many wild animals like hedgehogs etc, and in some cases people's free roaming pets such as cats end up severely injured or killed every year because people don't think to check their garden rubbish piles before setting fire to it.

• Make sure the things you're planning to put on your bonfire are safe to burn and won't explode or release toxic fumes into the air when exposed to flames.

• keep an eye on your bonfire at all times and make sure it doesn't get out of control.

• Make sure the fire has gone out completely before you wind celebrations down for the night. Even one small, stray ember can cause things to reignite without you knowing.

• If you're having a small party or gathering with your display, don't serve any alcohol, don't allow your guests bring their own alcoholic drinks and don't let your guests attend if they're already drunk. Again, everyone needs to be on full alert around fire and fireworks, if you or some of your guests cannot function, think and react properly due to being drunk you're putting yourself and other people in danger. Alcohol is also an extremely flammable substance and should be kept away from sources of fire.

• If you're setting off any fireworks that scatters debris across the neighbourhood, you need to take responsibility and go out and clean up as much of the rubbish left by your fireworks as you can possibly find from around your area when it's safe to do so.

• The air quality will likely still be poor and polluted with smoke the next morning (it always is on nov 6th). You may want to keep your windows closed and have an air purifier running if you have one.

If there's anything else I've missed, feel free to let me know and I'll add it in!

~ I know this was a long post, so thanks for taking the time to read through it all and I wish you a safe and happy holiday season <3