Distress Flares - Page 3

Manos · 14 April 2004, 21:45

Timofengland u mean these kind of jokes??

Tim M · 14 April 2004, 21:58

If I were a police-man I would be very affended!

nik · 14 April 2004, 23:01

I cant be bothered to see how this thread started, but this is a serious issue because not everyone who has a flare in their hand knows the consequences. I was told of a football match in wales where a spectator let off a rocket flare during the match. It hit another spectator in the chest on the other side of the pitch. He was dead before he hit the ground.
nick.

David Hickman · 14 April 2004, 23:26

Nik
That's the example I use when running RYA courses! Frightening isn't it!

nik · 14 April 2004, 23:43

OOh err, I must admit I got the story from a sea survival course.
Nick.

roohairy · 15 April 2004, 00:37

A few points that you can make your own mind up about:

Crews from many central and eastern European and SE asian countries (among other before I start another riot) fire off flares at New Year if in port or at anchor. I know of one flare which hadn't burnt out before landing on the roof of a new refrigerated warehouse in Capetown, said warehouse burnt to the ground and 2nd mate spent time in jail.

No names or places for the rest of this but....

I am aware of coastguard officers firing off flares at public events, in one case a flare landed on the ferry it was fired from (this one had burnt out) and in another public CG exercise the (red) parachute rocket flew horizontally along the quay just above head height over the public.

Last November I saw red flares in the sky in N scotland, on investigating found that the local mountain rescue team were celebrating bonfire night.

I know a 2nd officer who was hit in the face by a parachute rocket case which accidentally discharged as he passed it to another person during a drill, the rocket flew away from him but the casing hit his jaw with sufficient force from arms length to break his jaw and remove most of his front teeth.

My (personal) opinion is that any pyros can potentially be lethal weapons and should not be used at all at public events from a safety point of view alone. Boring I know and if it was just myself I'd be prepared to take the chance but there's too many other people who could get hurt.... I'll sit back and wait for the tidal wave of scorn!

tim griffin · 15 April 2004, 07:04

[QUOTE=

My (personal) opinion is that any pyros can potentially be lethal weapons and should not be used at all at public events from a safety point of view alone. Boring I know and if it was just myself I'd be prepared to take the chance but there's too many other people who could get hurt.... I'll sit back and wait for the tidal wave of scorn![/QUOTE]

i have to agree far to dangerous whats wrong with champagne being squirted
everywhere as the formula 1 guy's do, when they celebrate a victory
tim
www.griffmarineservices.co.uk

geoff · 15 April 2004, 07:15

I am a member of the Little Ship Club in central London. Every year, around November time, we invite the RNLI to give us a 30 minute talk on flares and rockets. We then go outside and practice using flares, smoke and mini-rockets under RNLI supervision. It is a very useful evening and I cant recommend them highly enough.

davep · 15 April 2004, 11:56

Last year my pack of flares exceeded their use by date, I was advised to take them to the C.G or local Police station for disposal. The Police were I thought the easiest route. It took two hours of questions and form filling and they were eventually taken away by a firearms officer who had to be called in for the task. If the Police take these things so seriously shouldn't we all.

David Hickman · 15 April 2004, 16:44

Local coastguard Station is the best route if you live by the sea. Brixham MRSC are happy to have them, we log them in a file, put them in a steel container, and the Royal Navy pop up from time to time from Plymouth to collecthem and blow them up!!

Bajan · 15 April 2004, 18:38

As someone who has recently entered the world of boating in this country, I thought I would observe quietly the different viewpoints offered by various members, however, I can't help but put in my 2 cents(pence) worth. I appreciate and respect the points of view from both trains of thought, however I look at it from this viewpoint.

On celebratory occasions such as New Year's Eve, when there are many more boaters on the water in (for most of us) unsual/dangerous conditions ie. minimal visibility!! (Therefore higher probability of genuine emergencies) I would be incensed, to say the least if I were to light a flare in an emergency situation only to find that there is a delayed/no response as a result of the rescue services responding to a false alarm due to someone igniting a flare for a laugh. The difference of a few seconds or minutes could be the difference between being rescued and losing my life and that is no small matter.

There must be alternate ways of illustrating one's feelings of joy without using one of the most effective means of illustrating quite the opposite..."Distress"

DJL · 17 April 2004, 23:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by davep

It took two hours of questions and form filling and they were eventually taken away by a firearms officer who had to be called in for the task. If the Police take these things so seriously shouldn't we all.

Yet I walked into a chandlery at age 17 and bought a pack of flares, no questions asked

Mike B · 22 April 2004, 17:39

Not wanting to keep this thread going but heard about these today. Interesting!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/3646257.stm

http://www.sportsnetwork.com/default...CTN3177417.htm

Tim M · 22 April 2004, 19:40

I don't think the issue with that story is that the man in question fired the flare, it's that it nearly killed someone!
If it hadn't landed in that football stadium, no one would have batted an eye lid.

jwalker · 22 April 2004, 21:09

If he hadn't fired it, no one would have batted an eyelid.

DJL · 22 April 2004, 23:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by timofengland

I don't think the issue with that story is that the man in question fired the flare, it's that it nearly killed someone!

Surely every flared that’s launched outside of an emergency situation is effectively putting lives at risk, whether it be the lives of the emergency services, people waiting to be rescued while the emergency services are dealing with hoax callouts or simply by enticing others to let off flares unnecessarily.

If people want to have pretty red things flying around the sky for parties and special events then they should use fireworks and get someone like JK to do it for them.

Anybody firing a flare from a cemetery deserves to go to prison for a year